Change is Good
by LilyRose Blue
Summary: Mark helps Callie recover from heartbreak and Callie helps Mark adjust to a new way of life.
1. Chapter 1

Dr. Callie Torres sat alone in a bar drinking what must have been her twentieth shot of tequila. She normally did not drink so much but today had been a bad day. In fact Callie had been having a lot of bad days. It all started a couple of weeks back when she realized that her beloved husband, George, was sleeping with a stick figure bimbo named Isabel Stevens. This prompted a messy if not quick divorce. Divorce is hard for everyone right? Well, of course it is but most people don't have to see their ex-husband and his mistress every day at work. Callie had the unfortunate luck to work at the same hospital with George and Isabel. Or Izzie as her friends affectionately called the doe eyed home wrecker.

Callie's troubles were not limited to her unfortunate marriage; she was also sabotaging herself at work. A prestigious title had been bestowed on her at the hospital, Chief Resident. However, for the past week she had been acting like a bumbling idiot. Her private life was wreaking havoc on her professional life. And her career was the only thing she had right now. If she didn't get it together she would lose her position and lose her reputation in the hospital.

And to add to her trouble Callie had began sleeping with an attending at the hospital, Mark Sloan. He had a reputation for screwing every woman he could find. They had been having sex for about two weeks now. The sex was great, Mark was great, but she knew that she was playing with fire. She was spending every night at his hotel room. She needed a plan but she was too drunk to strategize and perhaps too drunk to care at the moment. "Bartender! Another round."

The bartender walked down to the end of the bar and poured another five shots of tequila for the intoxicated orthopedic surgeon.

Mark Sloan was a plastic surgeon at the same hospital and he had been watching Callie self-destruct all week. That day at work he decided he was going to be helpful. Helpful wasn't generally in Mark's nature but for some reason for this woman he wanted to be helpful. Mark walked into Joe's bar and spotted Callie sitting at the bar. Mark walked over and motioned for the bartender. "I will have what she is having."

The bartender nodded and walked over setting up five shots of Tequila for Mark as well.

Mark took some money out of his pocket and said "Just leave the bottle."

The bartender nodded and set the bottle in front of Mark and walked off.

"So are you trying to ruin your career or are you just self destructing completely?" asked Mark. "Because you are doing a pretty good job at it." said Mark drinking his shots of tequila.

For the first time since he sat down next to her Callie looked at Mark and acknowledged his presence. "Do you know what it is like to be the laughing stock of the hospital? Everyone there is intimately acquainted with my failed marriage."

Mark chuckled at her question. "You do remember when I first arrived at the hospital right?" "Derek punched me for flirting with Meredith…" "Everyone found out that I was Derek's former best friend and that he had walked in on me having sex with his wife, Addison." "I was public enemy number one." "And people were always staring at me." "I just had to take the stance that I didn't give a damn."

"But you brought your situation on yourself. You came to Seattle knowing that this would be an issue." "This was sprung on me." insisted Callie.

"Was it really?" "You are telling me that there were never any signs that your marriage to George wasn't working. Or maybe that your marriage should have never really happened? You had sex with me and then the two of you got married." said Mark drinking his other shots. "It was the same for Derek and Addison. Those two should have never gotten married but they did anyway."

Callie rolled her eyes at him and said "Pour me a shot." Callie said "Alright so maybe I had a few warning signs." "But I loved him and…I just wanted it to work."

Mark poured two shots for Callie. "Well, you can't force something doomed to succeed." "Listen, I don't claim to be some sort of relationship guru. My most meaningful relationship was my friendship with Derek and that blew up in my face." "But I always had my career left to go back to." "You need that same kind of stability in your life or you are going to drown in this."

Callie was about to respond when George, Isabel, Meredith, Cristina, and Alex walked into the bar. They were all interns from the hospital. Callie wanted to leave and she moved for her purse to get up.

Mark grabbed her hand and said "If you start running now you will never be able to stop. Is that what you really want?" "You've worked hard to get where you are." "You've been at that hospital longer than either of them."

Callie glanced over seeing George and Isabel together and she nodded. "You are right." "I am ready to leave. Not because of the two of them but because I feel very drunk and very light headed."

Mark chuckled and said "Well, why we don't get out of here then?" "We can go back to my place."

Callie was going to say no but something about the smile on Mark's face always made her feel weak in the knees. "Alright let's get out of here." Callie grabbed her purse and stood up waiting on Mark.

Mark tossed money on the bar to pay for Callie's drinks and stood up putting an arm around her as they left the bar.

This did not go unnoticed by George and company.

Mark walked with Callie out to his car and opened the door for her.

Callie kissed him and said "Thank you Mark…for everything." She climbed into the car and put on her seatbelt.

Mark closed the car door and walked around to the driver's side. He hopped in and took off toward his hotel. When they arrived at the hotel Callie was half asleep, so Mark helped her out of the car and walked her up to his room. He helped Callie get into his bed. Mark climbed into the bed and drifted off to sleep after awhile.

The next morning Callie woke up slightly confused as to where she was until she rolled over seeing Mark next to her. She moved the sheet and looked down at her body and realized she was still fully clothed and so was he.

Mark opened one eye and looked at her. He chuckled and said "No, I didn't take advantage of you last night. I prefer when you are an active participant."

Callie chuckled and then winced in pain. "Ow…well that is good to know for future reference." "My head is killing me."

"That tends to happen when you drown your sorrows in tequila." "Lucky for you today is your day off or you would be screwed." said Mark.

"Yes, lucky me I don't have to face the jackals today." "Thanks for rescuing me last night." "It meant a lot to me." "I was in a really bad place."

"You don't have to thank me Callie. I'll always rescue you if I have the chance." said Mark. He realized how out of character that was for him and decided to change the subject. "Well, it just so happens that today is my day off too." "Why don't we spend it together?"

Callie thought about it for a moment and then said "Sure, I don't have any other plans for the day. As long as it doesn't involve getting out of the bed right now."

He laughed and said "No, it doesn't involve getting out of the bed right now."

"So what do you have planned for the day or are we just hanging out?" asked Callie. Callie laid on her side looking at Mark and had to stop herself from smiling. There was just something about this man that drew her in but also scared her. There was a trail of broken hearts in Mark's wake. And she wasn't his type or at least what she had become to identify as his type. She was nowhere near a size zero. She was scared that she would fall for him and end up with her heart broken…again.

Mark said "Well, I've finally decided to buy the ultimate bachelor pad." "I thought you could come and check it out with me." "I got the keys for it yesterday." said Mark.

"Hmm, finally deciding to put down roots here in Seattle? How mature and adult of you." said Callie. She playfully looked around the room and said "Where is the camera? Am I being punk'd?"

Mark chuckled and said "You know me if there was a camera in the bedroom it wouldn't be to punk you." "It'd be to fu…"

Callie cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth. "Thank you…thank you very much." She chuckled and said "Sure I would love to come and check out your place with you."

"And help me go furniture shopping?" asked Mark.

"Ah now I see why you want my help." "You know me, throw a leather couch or two in the room and I say it is done." said Callie.

Mark chuckled and said "I am glad our decorating tastes are in sync." "I think I am going to hire a professional to do it." "I don't feel like actually decorating an entire place." "I just want to be able to move in and start living."

Callie smiled and asked. "So what is this place like?" "Is it every bachelor's wet dream?" "I am imagining a stripper pole in the center of the room."

Mark chuckled and said "Well, it is 3 bedroom 3 and ½ bathroom penthouse with a view of downtown Seattle." "Who could ask for more?" asked Mark. He laughed and said "No, there is not a stripper pole." "But if you feel like giving me a show I can always buy a retractable pole."

Callie chuckled and said "Well, I can't wait to see it." "Well, you know me….why strip when I can just give you the best lap dance of your life." Callie covered her mouth and yawned."But for now I think I want to go back to sleep."

Mark chuckled and said "Go ahead Boozy sleep off your dinner." He kissed her in an almost tender away and then pulled back. Mark moved closer to Callie and wrapped his arm around her and closed his eyes too.

Callie felt herself snuggling closer into his warm embrace almost involuntarily. It didn't take Callie long to fall back to sleep. When she woke up again Mark was just coming out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist.

He smiled at Callie and said "You have good timing. I was just about to wake you up." "It is officially 1:00 in the afternoon." "I figure we can leave here and grab lunch before we go to see my new place."

Callie smiled and said "Sure that sounds great to me." Callie got out of bed and undressed before heading into the bathroom to start her shower.

Mark was about to get dressed but thinking about Callie nude in the shower was having an expected effect on him. He smirked to himself and untied his towel and tossed it onto the bed. He opened the bathroom door and said "Room for one more?" He smirked and walked into the shower with Callie.


	2. Chapter 2

After lunch Callie and Mark stopped by his interior decorator's office and met with her. Afterward Callie and Mark went to his empty penthouse. He unlocked the door and walked inside. As soon as you walked into the penthouse you were greeted by a wall of windows that featured a view of downtown Seattle. Mark walked further into the penthouse closing the door behind them. "So this is my new home. What do you think?"

Callie walked in looking around she smiled and said "I think you work too much to enjoy this much space." "But it is amazing Mark. This view…" "The building comes with a doorman and everything." "I think you made a great choice." "So how soon do you think you will move in here?"

"I couldn't live in a hotel forever and I decided this was as good a place as any. I want to move in soon probably the next two weeks or so. Sherri said she could have this place decorated and move in ready by then."

"Looking at this place makes me feel like I should bite the proverbial bullet and buy something for myself." "I am living with Cristina and that is nice but it would be nice to be able to bring you to my place sometimes." Callie glanced in his direction to see his reaction. Callie walked over to the large set of floor to ceiling windows and stared out at the city.

Mark smiled hearing that she would want him to stay over. Mark walked up behind Callie and slipped his arms around her waist. "Getting tired of always waking up in my bed?" asked Mark. "Living out of two drawers in my dresser?"

"Hmm, something to that effect." said Callie. "I'd like to be able to see you without judging…prying eyes burning into me." "Besides you know I like my privacy I can be very loud." "I mean that is if you wanted to continue seeing me..you know."

"Well, I was thinking…why don't you move in here with me?" "I mean there is more than enough space and then we don't need to worry about who is sleeping at whose place." "We'd be in the same place." Mark turned Callie around so that she was looking at him.

"Mark we've been sleeping together for two weeks. It is not normal to invite someone to move in with you after two weeks. We haven't even been on a date yet." said Callie. "So what would we be? Roommates that sleep together?" "Friends with benefits?"

Mark said "By the time that the decorator finishes decorating this entire penthouse it will be two weeks from now. So unless you intend to stop seeing me it will be an entire month." "And as far as a date is concerned then we should go out on a date." "We can go wherever you want."

Callie looked away from his gaze. "Mark I just got out of a very bad relationship that you said yourself was probably doomed from the start." "I don't want to get my heart broken again and I don't want to mess up my friendship with you." "Right now you are my only friend with the exception of Cristina."

"Nothing could mess up our friendship Callie. I love spending time with you. You are funny and smart. Aggressive and you know I love aggressive. I have fun with you and you don't try to change me." "You like me for who I am and that means a lot to me." "Everyone I know has always wanted to change me or wanted me to be something different." "I can't do that anymore." "I want to be with someone that doesn't want me to be this fictional picture in their mind." "I tried my best to be something for Addison and then she cheated on me with Alex anyway." "She aborted my baby." said Mark the pain from it all showing up in his eyes.

Callie moved her gaze back to his eyes seeing the pain and honesty there. "Mark, I don't want to be one of many." "George cheated on me and broke my heart and I have lost my mind, literally." "I can't go through that again. I can't spend my days and nights suspicious that I am not the only one."

"Look at me…." said Mark. "I am not George by a long shot." "I am not going to betray you. You more than satisfy me. I can't promise anything. I won't insult your intelligence by doing that. All I know is that I enjoy being with you and I want to continue being with you." "I like waking up with you next to me every morning."

Callie was quiet for a minute. She smiled a little. "Well, I have to admit I do like spending the night with you." "So what would we be roommates?"

Mark chuckled and said "Well, we could call it that but we'd be sharing the same room." "I know this is sudden but I think it is the right thing."

"So is this a secret?"asked Callie. Callie wanted to gauge is response. She wanted to know if she was just his dirty little secret. She didn't want to be anyone's secret.

"I don't see a reason for it to be a secret unless you want to keep it a secret. However, I am fairly certain the whole hospital knows you left Joe's bar with me last night." said Mark.

"Well, you do have a point there. I am sure Cristina is adding that with the fact that I haven't been home in two weeks." "I can't wait to see what sort of furor we walk into tomorrow at the hospital." She smiled and said "Alright, I accept you offer Sloan." "I'll move in here with you." Callie reached up draping her arms around his shoulders. "All I ask is that you don't hurt me."

Mark looked into her chocolate brown eyes and said in a serious tone. "You have my word that I will do my best to never cause you an ounce of pain." He lightly brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face.

Callie's heart skipped a beat as Mark talked. Her head was screaming at her to not believe him but her heart was pulling her in his direction. She gave a small smile. "That is all I ask then."

"So you mentioned something about a date tonight." "What would you like to do?" asked Mark. Mark wanted their first date to be something special he knew that was important for women.

"How about you choose what we do for our first real date." "I know we are doing this ass backwards but I'd love to see what you have up your sleeve." said Callie. "You've always been a very resourceful man."

He smiled and said "Alright I will choose our first date but I don't want to hear any complaints about what I choose. You are stuck doing whatever I choose." Mark already had an idea in mind. He didn't know if it was stupid or ingenuous but he was going for it. He smiled and said "Come on let me give you a tour of the entire penthouse." Mark walked Callie around the penthouse. The penthouse featured three bedrooms, 3 and ½ bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen, a living room, office, and den.

After the tour Callie said "This penthouse is amazing Mark. You have every convenience anyone could hope for here. I might move in here with you even if the sex wasn't amazing."

"Wait…but it is amazing right?" asked Mark looking at her for a second. Mark took pride in two things being an amazing surgeon and being an even better lover. He raised an eyebrow looking at Callie making sure that she was only joking with him.

Callie paused and then burst into laughter. "Of course the sex is amazing you know that." "That is something that you never have to worry about. Besides you know that I would tell you if I wasn't happy." "I am very happy." said Callie with a seductive smirk.

Mark looked relieved. "You had me concerned for a moment that I wasn't making an impact in the bedroom." "I was going to have to make a good use of the island in the kitchen." He kissed her and said "Are you ready to leave?"

"Actually, I wanted to stop by my apartment to pick up some of my clothes while Cristina is still at the hospital." "Do you think you can drop me off?" "And I will meet you back at the hotel a little later?"

"Sure, I will drop you off on my way to plan our date." "I intend to surprise you." said Mark. Mark walked out of the penthouse with Callie and closed and locked the door behind them. They left and Mark dropped Callie off at her apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

Callie spent a few hours at her apartment packing up clothes and other belongings to take over to Mark's hotel room. She showered and got ready for the date. She didn't know exactly what to wear so she settled for a cranberry colored wrap dress and a pair of heels. She left the apartment and headed over to Mark's hotel room. She carried a few bags up to his room and knocked on the door.

Mark opened the door and smiled. "Wow you look…..amazing." He smiled and said "Here let me help you with your bags." said Mark taking all of the bags from her hands. He set them on the bed and said "Oh I have something for you." He handed her a hotel pass key. "This is the key to the hotel room." said Mark. "And…" he fished around in his pocket momentarily and retrieved a set of keys. "These are to the penthouse." "I had them made for you this afternoon."

"Thank you for your help with the bags." She smiled and said "Carrying them up here I realized they were heavier that I thought they were." Callie was shocked that he had moved so quickly. "Mark….I don't know what to say to this." "Thank you." said Callie with a smile. She put the keys and the key card into her purse. "So what do you have planned for us tonight?"

He chuckled and said "I can't tell you." He smiled and said "Come on we need to get going. I wouldn't want us to be late for our date." He smiled and took her hand. Mark and Callie left his hotel and he drove them to his penthouse. "I need to run in and leave my instructions for the interior decorator." Callie and Mark walked up to the penthouse and Mark opened the door.

Inside music was playing and the lights were dimmed in the living room area. There was a round table set for two sitting in front of the wall of windows. There were flowers, candles, and champagne sitting on the table.

Callie gasped in surprise. "Mark what is this?"

"Well, I thought why not stay in for the night and have a very private, very romantic, very quiet dinner for two." said Mark. "I hired a chef for the night to prepare an amazing meal for the two of us."

"I can't believe you went to all of this trouble." said Callie with a smile. She hated to admit it but she was definitely impressed by the thought and effort he had put into their night together.

Mark smiled and took her hand. "Let's have a seat at the table. Mark walked with her over to the table and pulled out her chair. Once Callie was seated Mark popped the cork on the champagne and poured a glass for both of them. Mark walked over to his chair and had a seat. "So let's make a toast to…us." said Mark.

Callie smiled and said "To us." Callie clinked her glass against his and drank some of the champagne. Her eyes went to the view outside of the window. It was dark now so the lights from the city seemed to twinkle like stars. "I have to admit Mark this is incredibly romantic." "And whatever the chef is cooking smells amazing."

Mark smiled and said "Well, you did say that I tend to have a few tricks up my sleeve. I couldn't very well disappoint you." "So did you run into Yang at the apartment?"

"Surprisingly, no I did not." "But she probably went out for drinks after work with everybody." "I was glad I didn't run into her though." "I had way too much on my mind and I didn't want to have to answer any questions."

"About us?' asked Mark refilling both of their glasses.

"Well, yes and no. I don't want to answer questions about anything at the moment. I had a great day and I wanted to keep it that way." said Callie.

"So I was wondering if you wanted any input on the decorating process since you have agreed to move in with me." "I was just going to let Sherri, the decorator, handle everything." said Mark.

Callie chuckled and said "I am not big on decorating. I have no problem with letting Sherri do her job." "As long as our bed is big and comfy I don't mind." Callie blushed a little realizing she said 'our bed'.

Mark smirked having picked up on the 'our'. "Well, I am sure that we can make that happen. How big would you like for our bed to bed? Queen or King?"

Callie smiled and said "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of a very large and very comfortable California King bed." "What could be better than coming home and crawling into that after a very long day at the hospital?"

"I happen to really like the sound of that and the bedroom is certainly large enough for the bed." "I will be sure to let Sherri know what we want." "Any other requests?" asked Mark as the chef walked into the living room and served them dinner.

Callie said "Wow this meal looks incredible." "No, I can't think of anything else that I would want." "I am pretty much a simple kind of woman." "As long as it is all comfortable then I will love it."

Mark said "So I bought a little gift for you this afternoon while we were apart." "It is nothing major it is just…well it is just…" "I mean…what I wanted it to say is..thank you for giving me a chance." Mark reached under the table and produced and oblong jewelry box.

"You didn't need to do anything like this for me Mark. You are giving me a chance too…But…who doesn't love a gift?" asked Callie with a smirk. She reached for the box and opened it. Inside was a tennis bracelet. Callie ran her fingers over the diamonds and looked over at Mark. "Wow…I did not expect this…any of this." She chuckled and said "Somehow this all seems like a dream..a strange dream."

"I hope it is at least good strange and not a disturbing strange." said Mark.

"Oh no it is definitely a good strange." "I love this bracelet Mark it is…" "Wow." said Callie with a smile as she removed the bracelet from the box.

Mark reached over and said "Here let me help you with the clasp." "Right or left wrist?" asked Mark.

"Right wrist, please." said Callie with a smile.

Mark clasp the bracelet on her right wrist and smiled. "It looks like it was made for you Callie." "It looks beautiful on you." said Mark.

Mark and Callie spent a quiet evening together enjoying their specially prepared dinner and dessert. They ended the night by christening the new penthouse by making love on the island in the kitchen before leaving and going back to his hotel room for round two.

Callie woke up the next morning in bed with Mark. His arms were draped around her body and they were both nude from the previous night. Callie reached over and picked up her cell phone from the night stand. Her new tennis bracelet glinted as the morning sunlight hit it. Callie yawned tiredly realizing it was time to get up so she quietly got out of the bed taking off her bracelet and sitting it on the night stand. She went into the bathroom and grabbed a hot shower. By the time she dried off and got dressed Mark was just getting up to head to the shower.

"Do you want to ride into work with me this morning?" asked Mark heading into the shower.

Callie stood at the sink brushing her teeth. "Sure. My car or yours?"

Mark chuckled and said "My car of course." "You know how much I love my car."

"Boys and their toys…" said Callie chuckling at him.

Callie finished brushing her teeth and rinsed her mouth. She left the bathroom leaving Mark to finish his shower. She sat on the bed and put on her shoes and waited on Mark to finish getting ready. 40 minutes later the two of them left the hotel.

"I think you take longer than I do getting ready." said Callie teasingly.

Mark chuckled and said "Well, I have appearances to keep up." "I have a morning ritual you know." Mark drove them to the hospital and pulled into his parking space. "Ready to face the jackals?"

"For some reason I am in a much better mood that the other day. I am ready to take this day by storm." said Callie with a smile. "They won't know what hit them."

Mark chuckled and walked into hospital with Callie.

They both went their separate ways. She headed to the locker room to change into her scrubs and lab coat for the day and got a look at the surgeries that were planned for the day. True to her words the first half of Callie's day went off without a hitch. She was calm and confident and not at all emotional. All of the interns noticed the difference including her ex-husband, George.

Callie took her lunch break when she was able to fit it in. She headed to the cafeteria and had a seat at a table after buying her lunch. She ate her lunch and read a journal article on orthopedics. A figure walked up and stood in front of her.

George was about to say something when Mark walked up and brushed passed him like he wasn't even there. Mark sat in the seat across from Callie. Mark smiled at Callie. "What are you reading now?"

George just walked off without saying anything.

Callie chuckled softly watching George walk away. She turned her attention to Mark and said "I can only imagine what he walked over here to say to me." "I am reading all about hip replacement."

"Well, he can't be much of a real man if he didn't say what he had to say." "But then no one ever accused George O'Malley of being a real man." said Mark.

Callie laughed and shook her head. "You seriously don't like him do you?"

"Well, he is an imbecile and broke the heart of the woman I happen to be infatuated with. So while I despise his stupidity…I am glad that I could benefit from his loss." said Mark.

"Nicely put Sloan…nicely put." said Callie. "So aren't you going to ask me how my day has gone so far?" asked Callie.

"I don't need to ask I've already heard from Derek. Apparently, you have been a rock star today." "Of course he was fishing for information about what is going on between the two of us." "I am sure that Meredith sent him out on that mission."

"What did you tell him?" asked Callie.

"I told him that I would tell him later." "I decided that I should ask you first before I told anyone anything." "So how do you feel about people knowing about us?" asked Mark.

Callie smiled and said "Well, thank you for considering my feelings. I am fine with you telling Derek the truth and I do understand that he will tell Meredith and so on and so forth and the rest of the hospital will be in the know by tomorrow afternoon."

"Well, then I will tell Derek that we are seeing one another." "I am sure Meredith will be his next stop." said Mark.

"So how is your relationship with Derek by the way?" asked Callie as she finished eating her lunch.

"Well, it took awhile for us to get over what happened. But I think that we are finally in a place where we are real friends again. I have to say I missed being his friend. I think that is what I hated the most about everything that happened. I lost my best friend someone that is like a brother to me." said Mark. "When I look back at that time now I have a hard time imagining what I was thinking."

"Well, true friends are able to forgive one another even if it does take some time. As much as you missed being his friend I am sure he missed being your friend too." said Callie.

He smiled and said "I like to think so." "Oh, I talked to Sherri this morning and let her know that we wanted a California king bed. She said that she would make sure to accommodate our wishes." "So what should we do for dinner tonight?" asked Mark.

Callie thought about it for a moment and said "I don't know really." "Why don't order in Chinese?" asked Callie.

"Sure that sounds like a good idea to me." said Mark. "I am going to get back to my office I have some paperwork to get to before my last surgery today." He kissed her cheek and then got up from the table and headed back to his office.


	4. Chapter 4

Mark was sitting at his desk in his office when he heard a knock at the door. Mark looked up from the paperwork on his desk and said "Come in." Mark signed the last of his paperwork as Derek walked into his office. He closed the folder and set it aside.

Derek said "So, I got your message. What is going on?" Derek closed the office door and walked over to Mark's desk having a seat. "Meredith told me that she saw you and Dr. Torres leaving Joe's bar the other night."

"Callie and I are dating." said Mark simply. He smirked at the look on Derek's face. He always liked surprising people and rarely was he able to surprise his friend.

"Since when?" asked Derek surprised to hear that Mark was 'dating' anyone. Mark wasn't really the dating type. He was more of fling type of guy.

"We've been seeing each other for about two weeks now. Callie has been staying with me every night. I've really enjoyed it." said Mark.

"So this is….what?" asked Derek confused by the entire thing.

"Well, I don't know…we haven't exactly put a definition to it but Callie is going to move into my penthouse with me." "She agreed last night." said Mark.

Derek just stared at him. "Wait, you have a penthouse and you asked Callie to move in with you?" "How am I so far out of the loop with your life?" "We had lunch three days ago and you didn't mention anything about this.."

"No offense Derek but you share everything with Meredith. I did not want you sharing my intentions with her before I had the chance to talk to Callie." "I wasn't sure how she would react to my question. I was actually pretty sure that she would turn me down. She usually tries to resist me at every turn." "But she was really agreeable in all of this." "But she admitted that…she's worried that I am going to break her heart." "I can't say that it is a completely unfounded fear."

"Mark, you are my best friend. If you tell me something in confidence you have my word that I will not say anything to Meredith until you say that it is okay." said Derek. "I am happy for you if this is what you want." "Isn't it really soon after her break up for this though?"

"I've cared about her since the first fling we had before she married George. I didn't want her to marry him. But…she pushed me away after the one night stand." "I am not going to give her the opportunity to push me away again." said Mark.

"Wow, I never thought I would hear you sound this serious about anyone." "It all just seems…out of the blue." said Derek hoping that his friend was not setting himself up for heartbreak.

"I love being with Callie. She's smart, beautiful, sexy, assertive, confident, amazing, truthful to a fault. She can give as good as she gets. She cares about me even when she doesn't want to. She is a great doctor and yet even with all of her positive attributes she isn't perfect and doesn't pretend to be. And as strong as she is there are sometimes when she is so vulnerable and she just needs me the way that I need her." "And she doesn't want to change me..she just wants me to be me." "Not to mention she is a wildcat in bed." "And adventurous too." said Mark with a cocky grin. "I want to really make a go of it with her."

"I don't think I have ever heard you talk about any woman like this before." "Does she know how you feel about her? The depth of your feelings?" asked Derek.

"I've been slowly telling her how I feel but I don't want to rush her. She is just finalizing her divorce." "I don't want to push anything." "But I've been telling her how I feel slowly and inviting her to move in with me." "I bought a tennis bracelet for her." "I just want to do things right by her." "And it isn't easy. Today one of the nurses slipped me her phone number." "I slept with her a few months ago." said Mark. "I threw away the number but it just sort of brought reality into focus." "Temptation is still out there."

"Well, you seem to be handling it okay so far. You threw out the nurse's phone number." said Derek. "Just keep doing that. Don't even keep the number for a little while. Throw it out when you get it." "This is a really big step for you Mark."

Mark chuckled and said "That is just one battle in what will be a very long war. I am not going to lie I am a whore by nature. I love sex and more than that I love sex with a variety of women." "But I am just going to have to keep the memory of Callie's face burned into my mind. She looked so vulnerable when she asked me not to hurt her." "I gave her my word that I would try my best not to hurt her." Spending every night with her has made it easy though. I've only wanted to be with her." "We are going to be moving into the penthouse in two weeks. I hired a woman to decorate the penthouse." "I was thinking of having a housewarming party once we are settled in and everything. Of course I would invite you and Meredith."

"Well, you know I will be there just give me the date and time. I can't wait to see what the penthouse looks like. I'll bring you a gift or something." said Derek.

"Bring wine, we can always use wine." said Mark laughing. "We both like a good drink at the end of a long shift." said Mark. He looked at his watch and said "I need to get ready to scrub in for my surgery."

Derek nodded and said "I'll see you later." "Are you going to Joe's after work?"

"No, Cal and I are going back to my hotel room and we are going to order Chinese for dinner." "But we should hang out the next time we have some time off." said Mark. He smiled and they both walked out of his office.


	5. Chapter 5

Two months later Mark and Callie had moved into the penthouse and had been living there for six weeks. They were settled into the penthouse and settled into living together. The alarm clock went off at 8:00 waking up Callie and Mark. Mark groaned and said "I forgot to turn off the damn alarm last night." Mark reached over and slapped the clock knocking it to the floor. The clock skipped a few feet on the hardwood floors. The clock was still beeping forcing Mark get up. Mark got out of the bed and yawned as he picked up the clock and turned it off. He set it back on the night stand and climbed back into the bed with Callie.

Callie watched Mark get back into the bed and laughed at him. "Smooth move, Sloan." said Callie with a wink. She yawned tiredly. "We set the alarm on purpose remember…" "We are supposed to go out for breakfast today. But I am so tired." Callie had been exhausted lately.

Mark pulled Callie closer to him and kissed her. "We could always try to go back to sleep." "Something about my feet hitting the floor tends to wake me all the way up." "I don't think I will be able to go back to sleep this morning." "But I will not keep you up if you can manage to go back to sleep."

"I would feel bad leaving you up all by yourself." "We can spend some alone time together before the caterers show up to set up for the party." "They are supposed to get here around 2:00." Now that Callie and Mark were settled into the penthouse they were having a housewarming party. They had invited everyone: Derek, Meredith, Cristina, Alex, Miranda and her husband, Chief Webber, George, and Isabel. Callie had also invited a few friends of hers that didn't work at the hospital. Mark had insisted on inviting George so that he could taunt him in a subtle a way.

"I don't see why they need to get here at 2:00. The party isn't until 7:00 tonight. Do they really need all of that time?" asked Mark. "We aren't even having that many guests at the party."

Callie laughed and said "All of the food is being made fresh and you were the one that chose the menu Mark." "I told you to go simple."

Mark chuckled and said "Well, this is a big deal to me. This is our housewarming party I want it to be memorable for everyone that is invited." "This is important to me Cal." said Mark.

Callie smiled and said "You mean you want it to be memorable for showing George what he doesn't have." She chuckled and said "You aren't fooling anyone by saying you are inviting him as an olive branch. I would be surprised if he actually showed up tonight."

"Sure it is an olive branch. And olive branch that I would like to hit him with." "I just want to show him how a real man makes the woman in his life happy." said Mark.

"And you do make me very happy Mark. I was in such a bad place when we started seeing one another. I don't know how I would have gotten through that time without you." said Callie.

"You deserved to have someone take care of you. I wanted to be there for you. So we've been together for more than two months now…." said Mark.

"That is really sweet of you Mark. Yes, more than two months. I heard the pool at the hospital had the two of us lasting for less than a week. I guess our gambling co-workers were wrong." said Callie.

"Well, they were wrong from the moment they started the pool. We had already been seeing each other for more than a week by the time they got wind of the relationship." said Mark.

"So should I call you my boyyyfriend?" asked Callie with a laugh. "It seems absurd to call you my boyfriend at our ages." "Are you my significant other?"

"I happen to like the way significant other sounds." said Mark. "I love you Cal." said Mark saying it for the first time. He was looking into her eyes, Mark was a normally cocky person but at this very moment he was nervous. He didn't know if Callie would return his sentiment.

Callie was taken aback for a moment. At first she didn't say anything she just laid there looking into his eyes. She saw the truth of his words and she also saw his fears. "I love you too Mark." "I love you for caring for me…when I was too stubborn to let you." "I love you for loving me." said Callie looking into his eyes.

Mark let out a breath he didn't realize that he was holding in. "You had me scared there for a moment. Your silence was…."

Callie smiled and said "I just was savoring the moment." "I never thought I would hear those words coming out of your mouth." She kissed him softly. "I am not feeling so good." said Callie looking a little sick. "I am going to go and get a shower." Callie climbed out of the bed and went into the bathroom getting a shower.

Afterwards she got dressed in a pair of black loose fitting lounge pants and a black tank top. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and stared at herself in the mirror. She had been sick the last three mornings. She wanted to believe that she was just sick with the flu but she knew there was a more likely culprit. Callie knew very well that she could have been pregnant. Callie and Mark used protection most of the times that they had sex but there had been a few times when they just didn't. Callie stared in the mirror feeling herself get sick again. She rushed to the toilet.

Mark heard her throwing up for the third time that morning and got concerned. Mark went to the bathroom door and knocked lightly before walking in. "Cal are you okay?" asked Mark in a worried voice. Mark wet a towel in the sink and laid it on the back of Callie's neck.

Callie heard the worry in his voice. She flushed the toilet and put the lid down so that she could have a seat. "I am okay Mark. I just…my stomach has been unsettled for the last couple of days and I have been really tired." "And I have been having a lot of headaches.."

Mark stood there looking at Callie he knew very well what those symptoms usually meant, but it could be something else. He began trying to think of when he could have gotten her pregnant. He started to count the times and realized there was a good 5 or 6 times that he could recall when they had made love and neglected to use protection. "You didn't have any wine with dinner last night." said Mark in a curious voice looking at Callie. "Do you think that you are pregnant?" asked Mark.

"It might be a possibility." said Callie. She all of a sudden felt very scared. Sure they loved one another but that did not mean he wanted children especially children with her. "We've never talked about…."

Mark cut her off. "If you are pregnant I want you to have the baby Cal." Mark had already lost one child to abortion it would kill him to lose a second. He looked into her eyes. "I..I don't know if you want a baby but…"

It was Callie's turn to cut him off. "I've always wanted to be a mother. There is no way I could bring myself to have an abortion." "If I am pregnant I want this baby…our baby." said Callie with conviction.

Mark's face lit up like a Christmas tree when Callie said she wanted to have his baby. He smiled and said "I would kiss you but you just puked." He joked and kissed her forehead. "We need to make a doctor's appointment for you so that we kind find out for sure if you are pregnant. We need to find out how far along you are and get you onto prenatal vitamins."

Callie chuckled softly at his excitement. "Slow down Mark. We don't even know that I am pregnant yet." "Let's take it one step at a time." "My friend Marisol is an OB/GYN with a private practice here in Seattle." "I can call her and see when she can squeeze me in for an appointment." "I know it would be quicker to get this done at the hospital but I want this to be between the two of us first before the entire hospital knows."

Mark smiled and said "Fair enough. But I know you are pregnant I can feel it." "You've been complaining about being tired. You've been having backaches for at least three weeks unless you've been scamming me for free massages after work."

"I just attributed the backaches to being on my feet too much every day. I've been pulling more surgeries than usual and it has been hard on me." "But you are right I missed a lot of the obvious signs because it just didn't occur to me that I might be pregnant." "I didn't have wine last night because I felt nauseous. I've been skipping wine a lot lately." said Callie. "Okay I've got to brush my teeth. This taste in my mouth is making me sicker." She got up and went over to the sink brushing her teeth.

Mark smiled at her and said "Well, I can't wait until we find out." He slapped her on the butt playfully and climbed into the shower.

Callie jumped and laughed. "Hey! I am brushing my teeth here!" She finished brushing her teeth and left the bathroom. She went into the kitchen to make coffee but frowned resting her hand on her stomach. "Orange juice it is." said Callie to herself. She sat down in the living room with her orange juice and picked up the phone calling her friend Marisol on her personal line. Callie waited for her to answer. "Marisol, hi this is Callie. I need a very big favor."

"Callie! Hi, I can't wait to see the penthouse tonight at the party." "A favor?" "Sure, what kind of favor?" asked Marisol.

"Well, I need to schedule an appointment with you as soon as you have free time." said Callie.

"Are you pregnant?" asked Marisol shocked.

"Well, Mark and I think that I might be." "And I know that I could do this quicker at the hospital but I would really like to have a private life…and this news would spread like wildfire through the hospital." said Callie.

"Well, I was supposed to leave earlier and get a manipedi before your party tonight. But I am willing to sacrifice my personal pampering for a friend. Why don't you come in around 4:00?" "Are you bringing Mark with you?"

"I don't know. Mark and I didn't discuss it but I think he will want to be there." "So we will see you at 4:00. Thank you so much for doing this for me Marisol. You don't know how much this means to me." said Callie.

"It is no problem. I will see you then. I've got to go my next patient should be getting here soon." said Marisol. "Goodbye."

"Bye." said Callie hanging up. She relaxed on the couch with her orange juice watching TV.

Mark walked out of the bedroom awhile later dressed in slacks and a polo shirt. "So?" He had a seat on the couch with Callie. "Were you able to get an appointment?"

"Marisol can squeeze us in at 4:00 which means we will have the leave the caterers here alone." said Callie.

"That is fine I don't care if anything comes up missing. I just want to know if we are pregnant." said Mark with a smile. "How are you feeling?" "Do you need me to get you anything?"

"I am fine Mark. My stomach has settled down some." said Callie chuckling. She kissed his cheek. "I am just feeling alittle tired."

"Well, why don't you go lie down and get some rest." "We have a long day ahead of us I don't want you being exhausted." said Mark. "You were still tired when the alarm clock went off this morning anyway."

Callie wanted to argue with him but she was still tired. She smiled at him and said "Someone shouldn't have kept me up so late last night." "Okay…I think I am going to go and try to lay down for awhile." Callie drank the last of her juice.

Mark took the glass. "I will take this to the kitchen for you."

"Mark…I might be pregnant I am not and invalid." said Callie but she relented and headed into their bedroom to get some much needed rest.

Mark put her cup in the kitchen and then made himself some coffee and settled down with a medical journal to pass the time. About two hours later there was a knock on the door. Mark looked at his watch and frowned. It wasn't time for the caterers to arrive yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Mark opened the door and there stood a leggy blonde that looked like she could be a model. She was wearing a skin tight, red, strapless dress and a pair of stilettos. "Hello…" said Mark wondering who she was.

She smiled at him and said "Hi, I am looking for Dr. Mark Sloan." "Are you him?" asked the woman with a smile. "I am Candi by the way…"

Mark wondered if he was going to regret identifying himself. "Yes, I am Mark Sloan." "How can I help you?"

She smiled and said "Oh no I am here to help you doctor." She brushed passed him and sat a portable radio down on the coffee table and started it up. A classic stripper tune started and she started stripping right there in the living room.

Mark was stunned a moment before he rushed over and turned off the radio. "I don't know who sent you here but I don't need a stripper." "Please leave." said Mark handing her the dress she had taken off.

"Oh but I am a full service stripper." said Candi with a grin. "Your friend paid in full. You should at least enjoy a lap dance." said Candi moving toward him. "I'm the best in the west."

Callie walked out of the bedroom hearing the commotion. "What is going on?" asked Callie incensed seeing Candi in just a bra, panties, stockings, and stilettos.

"Cal, I can explain." said Mark. "I swear I have no idea who sent this woman here." said Mark. He knew with his track record the facts were not on his side. "I was just asking her to leave." insisted Mark.

Callie looked at the woman with fury in her eyes."Get the hell out of my home now."

Candi knew when the jig was up. She collected her things and quickly headed for the door.

Callie said "Who hired you?" Callie stopped her at the door.

"I don't know..some guy named George hired me." "He paid me in cash…he said he would pay me double if could take pictures of myself with the good doctor over there." said Candi. "He told me it was a bachelor prank…" But the look on Candi's face said a thousand words. She had known it was a cheating set up. She had done more than a few in her career.

Callie felt her blood boiling. "Get out of here." Callie slammed the door closed and leaned against the door for a moment. She felt a searing pain rip through her abdomen. She struggled to stay standing as she felt light headed.

Mark saw the look on her face and walked over to her. "Cal!" "Callie talk to me. Are you okay?" asked Mark. Mark felt his heart beating faster seeing the expression of pain on her face.

Callie slid down the door and sat down feeling light headed. Callie shook her head letting him know that she couldn't talk at the moment. Callie closed her eyes because it felt like the whole room was spinning around her.

"I am going to call an ambulance." said Mark. He turned to look for the telephone. He felt stupid in that moment. How did he not know where the telephone was? But in that moment he was in sheer panic mode.

"No…I will be okay…just give me some time." said Callie. "I just feel light headed…" "I am sure it is just because my blood pressure shot up just then." said Callie taking a breath. She felt tears form in her eyes as the cramping grew worse but it slowly started to ease up.

Mark sat down with Callie on the floor and pulled her into his lap. "Just take deep breaths baby." whispered Mark soothingly. He gently caressed her stomach and kissed the back of her head. "It's okay…we're okay."

They sat there like that for 30 minutes before Callie finally spoke. "I feel better now…" Callie went to get up. "I still feel a little light headed though. I think I need to lie down." Callie slowly got to her feet and made her way over to the couch.

Mark hopped up from the floor and helped Callie to the couch. "Here put your feet up." said Mark helping her swing her legs up onto the couch. "I am going to go get you some water." said Mark going into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water for her. He came back and opened the bottle and sat beside her head on the couch.

Callie took in a breath and gently blew it out. "I think I am okay…everything just sort of hit me all at once." Callie drank a little of the water before laying her head in Mark's lap tiredly. "The room is still spinning a little but not as bad as it was." said Callie.

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" asked Mark quietly. "We don't even have to go to Seattle Grace if you don't want to." "We can go somewhere else." "Anywhere else." "I just want to know that you and the baby are okay."

"We don't even know that I am pregnant for sure." said Callie in a quiet voice. "Besides I have an appointment with Marisol in a few hours." "Unless I get worse…she can check me out then." "There is no need to panic." "I am okay Mark…it was just a little overwhelming."

"Cal..we both know you are pregnant. There was little doubt this morning..but there is even less after what just happened." said Mark. He was scared that Callie might have miscarried. He wanted to force her to go to the hospital but he knew fighting with her would just make the stress worse. "We can wait for your appointment with Marisol…but if you get worse I will carry you out of here kicking and screaming if I have to." The fear in his voice was evident. He was scared they would lose their baby before there was even confirmation but he was also scared of losing Callie.

"I am okay Mark…I promise that I will tell you if that changes." said Callie. Callie was scared but she didn't want to let on. She and Mark couldn't both panic at the same time. Someone had to have a level head in all of this. Or maybe she was just too scared to let herself consider all of the possibilities.

"I think we should cancel the party tonight so that you can rest." "I want to make sure that you are okay." "If you need anything just let me know." said Mark kissing the top of her head.

Callie said "Mark, we are not going to cancel the party after we went through all of the trouble of planning it." "We have invited everyone. The caterers will be here soon." "Unless Marisol thinks I am deathly ill we are not going to cancel."

"Why are you so damn stubborn?" asked Mark shaking his head. "If Marisol says you aren't okay then we are cancelling the party and I am not going to argue the point with you." "Do we understand one another?" said Mark firmly

Callie looked up at him and said "Alright Mark." "We have a deal."

Mark caressed her hair and said "Good." They stand like that for 46 minutes before another knock came to the door. Mark gently slid from under Callie since she was asleep. He went to the door and opened it letting the caterers. "Please keep the noise down."

Mark picked up Callie and carried her into the bedroom.

Callie woke up as he picked her up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong but the caterers are here and I don't want them to disturb you. You need your rest." said Mark.

"Will you stay in here with me?" asked Callie not wanting to be alone at the moment.

Mark said "I am not going anywhere Cal." "I just need to give the caterers direction and then I will be right back." Mark kissed her softly and then left the room. He talked to the caterers and then went back to the bedroom.

Callie said "I set the alarm to wake me up for my appointment." Callie closed her eyes tiredly and drifted off to sleep for an hour.

Mark grabbed the cell phone before it could wake her up. He turned it off and then lightly kissed her forehead. "Cal…it is time to get up." "We need to go to the appointment." said Mark softly.

Callie stirred a little and said "Already?" "I feel like I just closed my eyes a few minutes ago." She sighed a little and got out of the bed. She walked over to the closet and selected a plum colored wrap dress and a pair of sandals. Callie got dressed and then had a seat on the end of the bed putting on her shoes. Callie took in a breath and then stood up. "Okay I am ready to go now."

"Are you still feeling lightheaded?" asked Mark walking with her out of the apartment after grabbing his keys and her purse.

Callie shook her head no. "It has passed for the most part." "I just feel a little sluggish." Callie walked with him to his car and got in putting on her seatbelt.

Mark drove them to Marisol's clinic and pulled up at the front door. "You can get out here. I will park and come inside."

Callie was going to argue that she could walk in from the parking lot but the serious look on Mark's face let her know that any argument right now would be futile. "Okay." "I will sign in and wait for you." Callie climbed out of the car and closed the door before heading into the upscale clinic. Callie went over to the receptionist's desk and signed in and waited.

Mark came in a few minutes later having parked the car. He sat next to Callie and took her hand. He kissed it gently but didn't say anything. He was sure that she was on edge just like he was. They sat there for fifteen minutes before Marisol walked into the waiting room.

"I am sorry to keep you two waiting. I just finished seeing y last patient." "Please come with me." said Marisol leading them back to an examine room. "My nurse will help you get ready for me."

The nurse smiled and said "Hi, I am Laura. Here are the forms you need to fill out." She handed a clipboard to Mark. She handed a gown to Callie so that she could change. She then left the room.

Callie changed into the gown and then sat on the bed waiting on Marisol to come in. She looked at Mark. "I am nervous…"

Mark said "There is nothing to be worried about. People get pregnant every day." He smiled and kissed her cheek. Mark sat down filling out the paperwork including his medical history before passing the clipboard over to Callie.

Callie filled in her history and then handed the clipboard back to Mark. She laid on the bed with her hands rested on her stomach. She hummed to herself until she heard the door open. She looked over at the door and smiled seeing Marisol. "Thank you for squeezing us in today."

Marisol smiled and said "It is my pleasure." "It is good to see the two of you." "Hi Mark." "So Callie how long have you been having the symptoms?"

Callie said "I guess if I really think about it…it's been a few weeks." "It was mostly headaches and backaches with occasional nausea."

Marisol said "Alright well, my nurse drew blood and we are going to test that but we are also going to do a sonogram today to confirm." Marisol position the sheet over the lower half of Callie's body and helped her push the gown up. Marisol said "This is going to be cold." She applied the gel to Callie's stomach and started up the machine. The room was silent for a moment and then suddenly the room was filled with the sound of the baby's heart beat.

Callie gasped softly and looked over at Mark. "Do you hear that?" Callie linked back tears realizing that she really was pregnant. "We're pregnant." whispered Callie looking over at Mark.

"As if there was any doubt about that?" asked Mark with a smirk. He kissed her cheek. "You are going to be an amazing mother Cal." He squeezed her hand and said "Listen to that…it is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard."

"You are going to be an amazing father Mark. I know it." said Callie looking into his eyes for a moment. She knew how worried he was about that.

Marisol smiled and said "Congratulations you two. It could not happen to two better people." "So…Callie you are 11 weeks pregnant, which puts your due date in late October." "Everything else appears to be normal but I would like to bring your attention to here and here." said Marisol motioning to different positions on the screen. "There is one and there is one." said Marisol.

"That means you got pregnant maybe a week or so after we started seeing one another." said Mark looking at Callie with a proud grin on his face. "One what?" asked Mark incredulously. He was a doctor so he knew very well what Marisol was saying. Now that his attention had been directed to the screen he could see it for himself. "Twins…" muttered Mark in shock.

Mark and Callie both sat there stunned for a few moments neither one knowing what to say. Mark finally broke the silence and said "Uh…Callie had a scare earlier.." "She was light headed…the room was spinning and she was in pain."

Marisol said "What brought this on?"

Callie said "I just got really upset and it all sort of happened in a crash of waves…" "I think it was just stress."

Marisol said "Well, I want to check your blood pressure to see where you are right now." "If that happens again I'd like for you to seek medical help."

Mark looked at Callie and said "Do you hear her Cal?"

Callie nodded and said "Okay okay you two…point taken."

Marisol took her blood pressure and said "It is still elevated but within range." "I will be keeping a close eye on your blood pressure if you decide to have me as your OB for this pregnancy."

Callie nodded and said "of course we want you to be our obstetrician." "And you have my word that I will do my best to stay on target with my blood pressure."

Mark said "I can keep track of it at home to make sure she isn't spiking."

The rest of the appointment went off without a problem and Marisol prescribed vitamins for Callie. They scheduled a follow up appointment and Marisol printed out two copies of the sonogram. Callie changed back into her dress and then she and Mark left the office. They stopped off at the pharmacy and picked up Callie's medication and then went home to get ready for their party. Mark had plans for George O'Malley if he actually showed his face at the party after the stunt he had pulled that afternoon.


	7. Chapter 7

Callie stood in front of the full length mirror in their bedroom and looked at herself in the plum colored wrap dress she was wearing. She wondered if she should change her clothes. Callie walked into the walk in closet looking for something different.

Mark said "Callie, you look beautiful in what you are wearing. I don't think that you need to change or anything." Mark walked into the closet. "They are just our friends and the people we work with." said Mark looking at her.

Callie said "I know who is coming to the party Mark." "I was just wondering if I should change." "But you are right this is good enough." "Besides I am too tired to change." said Callie laughing. "I am glad that the party is here." Callie smiled. "How are the caterers doing?" "The food smells great."

"They are doing great. Most of the appetizers are almost done." "Do you want to sample something?" "You didn't eat lunch today." asked Mark walking out of the closet with Callie and closed the door.

Callie said "Mark, I can wait until the party starts." She frowned glancing at the vitamins sitting on top of the dresser. "Alright, I will sample something and take my vitamins and everything." She smiled and said "I have to stop being so stubborn and think about the babies." Callie walked out of the bedroom taking the vitamins with her and walked into the living room. She had a seat on the couch and put her feet up.

Mark turned on the music and then disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a plate that had samples of all of the appetizers. "I tasted a few of them. They are pretty good."

Callie ate some of the appetizers and then took her vitamins. As she was finishing the doorbell rang as their first guests started to arrive.

Mark got up and said "I will answer the door."

Callie chuckled and said "I will come with you." Callie got off of the couch and walked to the door with Mark.

Mark opened the door and smiled seeing Derek and Meredith at the door. Both of them were carrying housewarming gifts. Mark smiled and said "Hi, come in." "I am glad you two were able to make it." "I know you had a late surgery today Derek."

"It was cutting it close but I finished the surgery in good time and I was able to go home and shower and change." said Derek. "Wow…look at that view." said Derek looking at the city lights tinkling outside of the floor to ceiling windows. Derek said "We brought gifts of course." "Where do you want them?"

Mark motioned to a table and said "You can sit the gifts over there on the table."

Meredith smiled and said "Hi, Mark. Hi, Callie." "Thank you for inviting us."

Callie said "You are welcome. We are glad that you two came." "Do you want a tour of the penthouse?"

Meredith smiled and said "Sure I would love that."

Mark motioned to a table and said "You can sit the gifts over there on the table."

Derek kissed Meredith's cheek and took the gift she was carrying and set both of their gifts on the table. Derek walked over to Mark and said "This place looks great." "I can't believe you finally moved out of that hotel."

Mark chuckled and said "I guess I decided it was time to grow up." "Put down some roots."  
"Besides I couldn't ask Callie to move into a damn hotel room with me."

"So how are things with you and Callie?" asked Derek.

Mark said "Can I count on you to keep this to yourself?" "You told me that if I told you something and asked you not to tell Meredith that you would honor that."

Derek said "Sure, you can tell me whatever you want." "I won't say a word to Meredith." "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is great." "Callie found out today that she is 11 weeks pregnant with twins." "Hearing those heart beats today was amazing." "And the smile on Callie's face…" said Mark.

"That is huge Mark….congratulations." said Derek. "11 weeks?"asked Derek laughing. "You always did move quickly." Derek clapped Mark on the back and asked "So are the two of you excited?"

Mark nodded and said "Definitely, I am glad that we actually live in a place big enough for two babies." "I don't think either of us has another move in us right now."

"You two are going to stay here in the penthouse? What about grass and open space for the babies as they get older?" asked Derek.

Mark chuckled and said "Well, for now they are fetuses and don't need outside space. And for the first two years I think we could get by with just taking them to the park and maybe over to Uncle Derek's house every once in awhile if they just need wide open spaces."

"You do have a point there." "I can't wait to tell my mother. You know she will be on the first plane out here to see you and to meet Callie." "Meredith is nervous about meeting my mother." "Maybe this will help make it less scary if Callie and Meredith meet her at the same time." "You know take some of the heat off of Meredith." said Derek.

"Well, don't tell Carolyn yet… Callie and I haven't really discussed who we should or should not tell. But I couldn't not tell you." said Mark. "So that was the good news of what happened today but there was some bad news." "A stripper named Candi showed up at the door today to give me a show…and more." said Mark.

"And more?" asked Derek. "Oh! And more…" "Is she an ex-girlfriend?" asked Derek knowing that his friend had been known for being indiscriminant in the past and a stripper that slept with her clients sounded right up Mark's alley.

Mark said "No, she wasn't an ex-girlfriend. In fact I had never met this woman before." "She was a gift…from George O'Malley." "It got Callie so upset that…" "For awhile I was worried that she might have miscarried." "She was probably worried too but just refused to tell me." "If he shows his face here tonight he is going to need me to fix it when I am done with him."

"I wouldn't think that George would be a vicious person. He seems like a puppy most of the time." "Well, I am sure he didn't anticipate that the stress would be detrimental to Callie though." "No one knew she was pregnant." said Derek. "Don't do anything that will put you out of commission for surgery." "Your hands are your job."

"I don't give a damn about the job. His little stunt ran Callie's blood pressure sky high." "He will be lucky if he is able to limp his way out of here." said Mark. He stopped talking as Callie and Meredith returned from their tour of the penthouse.

Meredith said "Mark the penthouse is great. It definitely looks like your style."

Mark laughed and said "Thank you but I did not have a hand in the decorating. We hired an interior decorator to do the work." "If Callie and I had to decorate this place we'd probably still be living out of boxes."

Callie smiled a little but the look on his face when she and Meredith had walked up concerned her.

The servers came out of the kitchen serving drinks and appetizers. Soon there was another knock at the door. This time Callie went to the door and opened it. She smiled seeing Cristina Yang. Callie said "Come in." "I am glad that you were able to make it."

Cristina said "Well, you know how I feel about parties." "But I decided to come anyway." "You might not want to close the door." "Dr. Webber, Bailey, and her husband were coming into the building when I got on the elevator."

And sure enough a few seconds later Dr. Webber, Miranda Bailey, and her husband arrived at the door with Callie's friend Marisol right behind them.

Callie smiled and said "Please, come in." Isabel and Alex arrived not long afterwards.

As most of the guests had arrived the party got into full swing. Nearly an hour later there was a knock at the door.

Callie and Mark were both occupied so Meredith went to the door for them and let in George. She was unaware of what had occurred earlier in the day. Meredith smiled at her friend. "I was starting to think that you were not going to show up."

"Has anyone said anything about me Meredith?" asked George cautiously. George had been at Joe's drinking before he had the courage to actually show up.

Meredith smiled and said "No, no one." "Why do you ask?"

George shook his head and said "No, reason." He smiled and said "Wow…this is definitely…upscale."

Mark was standing across the room with Callie talking to Dr. Webber when his eyes wandered across the room and spotted George eating an appetizer. Mark felt his blood start to boil looking at the little troll.

Callie realized that he had stopped talking and followed his gaze. "Mark…please behave." whispered Callie quietly. She kissed his cheek.

Mark groaned and said "Cal…." "Fine…" Mark went on telling Dr. Webber about his impressive five hour surgery from a few days ago.

Callie smiled when Mark started to relax and she said "I will be right back." Callie drifted off to the kitchen to check on the appetizers since they were running low. She came back out feeling a little light headed so she had a seat in a chair to relax for a moment.

George saw Callie move away from Mark and decided now was his chance. He walked over to Callie and was quiet for a minute. "Callie, I need to talk to you." "I have some things that I would like to say if you are willing to listen…"

Callie said "George I really don't want to talk to you." "I know you sent a stripper here today." "That was pretty classless of you." "Just because you didn't know what fidelity meant does not mean that Mark is as easily swayed."

"Are you kidding me?" "Mark is the biggest manwhore at the hospital. Everyone knows that including you. Or at least you used to until you were brainwashed by him. He is just a rebound guy." "Everyone is just waiting for the moment when he cheats on you with a nurse or an intern." "I made a mistake that was out of character for me." "And now you have attached yourself to a man that has made cheating his hobby." said George.

"He rejected your little surprise for him. He had no interest in her." "I know it might be hard for you to believe but Mark loves me." "He isn't perfect." "Sure he is tempted but he has worked hard to stay faithful to me." "Don't be bitter." "You got what you wanted…you are out of my life and you are with Izzie." "That should make you happy."

"Izzie and I aren't together anymore. We are just friends. That is all we ever should have been." "I was just overwhelmed and I used bad judgment." "It was never my intention to hurt you." "I miss you being my wife Callie."

"I've moved on George." "I've started my life with Mark." Callie looked at him and blurted out. "I'm pregnant and Mark is so happy about it and so am I." She got up to walk away.

George grabbed her arm and said "Pregnant?" "Wait…how far along are you?" asked George shocked.

"I am 11 weeks pregnant. Back off George." said Callie pulling her arm away from him but he kept his grip tight on her arm.

George wasn't intending to hurt her. He was just shocked and wanted clarification. "Could this baby be mine?" "11 weeks?"asked George trying to do the math in his head.

Mark spotted George holding onto Callie's arm. He took off toward the two of them.

Derek was across the room talking to Meredith and Alex when he saw Mark's determined stride across the room toward George and Callie. Derek handed Meredith his glass of champagne and took off across the room to stop his friend but he was too late.

"Let her arm go O'Malley." said Mark with a growl. Mark punched George without giving him a chance to let Callie go.

"Mark!" yelled Callie.

Mark moved her back out of his way and grabbed George that was trying to slink away. "I want you out of my house!" "Now!"

"You invited me!" yelled George putting his hand to his bleeding nose. He lunged toward Mark showing aggression he rarely had. He punched Mark in the jaw.

Derek got in between the two of them and said "That is it…." "George maybe you should call it an early night…." "You've had a few too many."

George said "Look what he did to my nose!" He stormed out slamming the door behind him.

The party had fallen silent. The only noise in the quiet penthouse was the music playing. George's exit was like everyone's clue that the party was now over. Everyone said their good nights and left for the night.


	8. Chapter 8

Callie walked out of the bathroom dressed for bed. She climbed into the bed not speaking to Mark.

Mark was sitting up against the headboard watching her. "So, how long are you going to give me the silent treatment Calliope?" "I did the right thing. He could have caused you to have a miscarriage with that stupid stunt with the stripper and then he grabbed you tonight." "His grubby hand prints are on your arm." said Mark reaching over and picking up Callie's arm to motion to the hand print.

"You acted like a jackass in front of all of the people we work with." "George could press charges against you for assault." "And I am not helpless I can take care of myself." "I didn't need you to be some big Neanderthal and come to my rescue." said Callie.

Mark said "Yes, I did because you are the woman I love and you are carrying my baby." "And if you expect me to apologize for punching that little twerp you are going to be sadly disappointed." "He is lucky that he was able to walk out of here under his own power." Mark looked at the scowl on her have and then conceded "Maybe I could have handled it better."

Callie smiled a little and said "I think that is as close to an apology as I am going to get on this issue." "So I accept." "And I love that you wanted to protect me." "And…if was really how when you punched him." "I mean…really hot." said Callie with a grin. She chuckled and said "But now we have to look at him tomorrow at work with his broken nose…because I am so sure that you broke it."

Mark laughed and said "Well, it will just be a reminder for him to not put his hands on you anytime in the near future." Mark pulled her to him. "I love you Cal…and I just want to protect you." He kissed her softly. "I told Derek about you being pregnant."

Callie slapped his arm. "I didn't want to tell anyone yet Mark!" "But…Derek is your best friend…I guess I should have known that you would tell him." "What did he have to say?" "I can't be too mad…when George was talking to me…I told him that I was pregnant…" "He actually thought the baby might have been his."

"He was really happy for us." "Though he did ask if we were going to stay here in the penthouse or if we were going to move into somewhere that has…you know like grass." "I hadn't really thought about that until he mentioned it." "I mean kids need grass and stuff like that." "Room to run and play." "But like I told Derek it will be awhile before our babies need space." "So we could stay here for awhile or we could look for another place." "Whatever you want is fine with me." said Mark. "George thought you were pregnant by him? He is an idiot."

"I hadn't really thought about that either. I mean you are right…for the moment we don't need the outdoor space." "But it might be nice to have in the future." "Maybe we could buy something outside of the city…like a little get away or something?" "We could buy a place outside of the city that we can go and visit on weekends or something and take the babies when they are older." "I love our penthouse I don't think I want to move."

"Like a family get-away?" "I would like that a lot. I will call my real estate agent and see what we can find that isn't too far away." said Mark kissing the top of her head. "That way when we do have a day off we can drive maybe 30 minutes to an hour to get where we want to go."

Callie smiled and said "Good." "So Sloan…what do you want? Boys, girls, or one of both?" Callie laughed and said "I think I'd like one of both you know." "A boy and girl." "Then I can spoil both of them rotten." said Callie laughing.

"I don't know…I haven't really given it any thought." "But a boy and girl might be nice." "I am just happy that you are having my baby." "There was a time when…I thought that would never happen for me." "And here we are." said Mark. "With two little ones on the way." "Who knows how many more times I might knock you up in the next couple of years." said Mark with a lecherous grin.

Callie chuckled and said "You know I feel sort of bad." "We went through the trouble of having both guest rooms decorated and now we need to convert one into a nursery." "For the babies." She laughed and said "Just wait a minute Sloan. I do not intend to becoming a baby making machine." "How many kids are you talking here?"

"Well, do you want to hire someone to do the decorating or is that something that new moms like to do for themselves?" asked Mark. "I don't know…we have two now…and maybe another three or four before we are done." said Mark with a wink. "We have money and love to give our children." "Why not?"

"Well, that is something that new mother's do. But with as much as I work I don't know that I have the time for that sort of thing." "So we should hire someone but I'll consult with her to make sure the design is what I want." "But we can wait a month or so." "I want to wait until we know the genders of the babies." said Callie. Callie laughed and said "5 children?" "How much champagne did you drink at that party Sloan." "I am not giving birth to five children"

Mark chuckled and said "So we want to know the genders huh?" "Well, it doesn't have to be five but definitely more than just two." said Mark with a smirk.

"Well, definitely. I mean I want to be able to buy gender specific clothes and stuff like that." "Besides I have never been a big fan of surprises. I would end up asking Marisol to just tell me after awhile." "Wait…I didn't even ask…do you want to know when the time comes?"

Mark laughed and said "Sure, I want whatever you want Cal." "Don't worry about it." He smiled and said "We should get some rest. It is getting late and we both have early mornings tomorrow." "I want you to remember to eat tomorrow please and make sure you take your vitamins." "Take care of yourself." Mark reached over and gently rubbed her stomach.

Callie kissed him and said "You have my word I will make sure that I eat." Callie slipped her hand over his that was on her stomach. "Okay." She kissed him again. "I love you." "Goodnight." Callie reached over and turned off the lamp.

"I am a sex king you know that right." "I got you pregnant with twins without even trying." said Mark. He kissed her cheek and chuckled.

"You are such a pervert. Go to sleep." said Callie turning over with a chuckle.


	9. Chapter 9

Mark woke up early the next morning and threw on a pair of pants and a shirt. He grabbed his wallet and car keys and left out before Callie could wake up. He made it back home forty minutes later and tried to sneak back into the bedroom.

Callie was walking out of the bathroom wearing a red, thigh length robe. She smiled seeing Mark. "Where were you?" "I woke up this morning in the mood for sex." said Callie. She stopped seeing he had flowers in his hand. "Mark, you bought me flowers? How sweet of you."

Mark said "Wait…I missed hot morning sex?" "Come on let's go back to bed." said Mark walking over to her with a smirk on his face.

Callie laughed and said "Too late Sloan." "I've already showered." "You will just have to wait until tonight." "I smell food."

Mark laughed and said "Yes, I stopped off and bought you flowers, I bought breakfast from that diner you like so much, and I picked up one of those baby name books." He walked over kissing her cheek. "Are you hungry?"

Mark said "I bought some ginger ale and crackers in case you can't eat breakfast." "I know you were pretty sick yesterday morning." Mark walked with Callie into the living room and set her breakfast on the coffee table for her.

Callie took the flowers from Mark. "You keep doing things like this and people are going to think you've gone soft." She smirked and kissed him and said "I am going to go and put these flowers into some water. I'll be back in a few minutes." She chuckled to herself and walked into the kitchen looking for a vase. She put some water in the vase and dropped in the flowers and set it on the island in the kitchen. Callie walked back into the living room and had a seat on the couch with Mark.

Mark was already tearing through his breakfast because he had to go to work before Callie did this morning. Mark said "Derek mentioned..telling his mother about us and about the pregnancy. What do you think about that?" "I mean Carolyn Shepherd has always been like a mother to me. For that matter Derek's family has always been my family." "I think I would be screwed up...well more screwed up than I am if it hadn't been for them giving me somewhere normal to go." "I always wanted a family...a real family where people cared about one another."

Callie was eating breakfast and looking at Mark while he talked. She looked at the hurt in his eyes while he talked about family and she saw him for who he really was. Not the hot shot surgeon that was on a mission to bed more women than Hugh Hefner. No, this was a man that had been destroyed by his childhood. He was damaged...and so was Callie and that was why the two of them clicked. They were both damaged and they needed one another. She smiled softly and said "You know if Mrs. Shepherd is your family then you should tell her Mark." "I know you missed out on having a loving family when you were a child..." "But you have me and you have the babies..." said Callie looking at him before going back to eating breakfast.

"Thank you for being so understanding. I think I might give her a call this afternoon and tell her. I don't know how long Derek will be able to hold water." "Speaking of telling parental figures...are you going to tell your parents?"asked Mark. "Or do you want to wait awhile..." Mark finished eating and sat back looking at Callie. "So I bought a baby name book while I was out." "I figured it is never too early to start thinking about names...especially when we have two babies to name." "So two first names and two middle names to come up with."

"Well, I want to tell my parents...don't get me wrong. But the last thing I want is for Carlos and Maria Torres to make a trip here to Seattle." "That is the very last thing I need right now." "They would stress me out...not meaning to...but they would." "Oh and of course you got me pregnant and we aren't married...and I just got divorced from my dear husband George O'Malley...which was a fly by night Vegas marriage that they didn't approve of." "And since I am pregnant they are going to think I should take time off from the hospital which I will not be doing until you have to roll me out of the hospital on my side." said Callie. "Well, I am ready to think of baby names whenever you are." She laughed and said "Just no rhyming names."

Mark laughed listening to Callie ramble on and on. He said "You love your parents, right?" "And they love you...you should tell them Callie before you get much further along. I think it would be hurtful for them to realize that you were keeping something this big from them." "But that is just my opinion; I don't have a good relationship with my parents so I don't really know what a good child would do..." "But...I know that I'd want my children to tell me if something this big was going on in their lives..." "And you are going to have to tell Webber eventually right?"

Callie made a face. "When did you become the logical...responsible one?" She said "Fine...I will call my parents in the next couple of days to let them know." "You do know that when they get a break they will come here to make our lives miserable..." "What time do you have to go to work?" "Yes, I will tell Webber soon..."

"I will be waiting for it babe." Mark looked at his watch and said "I better get up and get a shower. I will see you later at the hospital okay?" He kissed her softly and then got up. He went ad grabbed a shower and then got dressed for work. He came back into the living room. "I will see you later Callie." "I love you baby." He kissed her.

"I love you too Mark." said Callie with a smile.

Mark left the penthouse and drove to the hospital and went to his office. He looked over the information for his first surgery that morning. There was a light knock on his door and then the door opened.

Dr. Richard Webber was standing at the door. "Now, I try to stay out of the personal lives of my attending physicians. Personally, your personal lives are far too complicated. But when an attending assaults and intern in front of me. I can't help but think this might cause problems in the hospital." "So...please tell me that this isn't the case."

Mark said "I am going to be honest with you and you can take as you please and make whatever determinations you feel you need to make." "O'Malley sent a stripper to my penthouse yesterday to seduce me and take pictures of it to break Callie and me up." "Now, that alone is reason enough for me to rearrange his unfortunate face." "But the stress of that event...caused Callie's blood pressure to sky rocket..." "We confirmed yesterday that she is pregnant...11 weeks pregnant with twins." "My children..." "So he didn't just potentially hurt the woman I love...he could have cost me to lose my children."

Richard stood there taking it all in. Sometimes the lives of his staff was more complicated than he cared to know about. "Congratulations on the pregnancy..." "Well, I can't say that I wouldn't have punched him too." "But can I have your assurance that you won't be starting a brawl in the middle of the hospital?" "Let's keep a modicum of decency here."

"You have my word as long as he steers clear of Callie, I will keep my hands to myself." "But then again if he messes with Callie she is bound to break every bone in his body before I get there." said Mark. "We will keep the theatrics to a minimum."

Richard said "Thank you...that is all I am asking for." "I assume that Dr. Torres will be talking to me in the near future about her pregnancy?"

Mark nodded and said "We just found out yesterday but we talked about it this morning and she will definitely be talking to you about it soon." "But she has no intention of lightening here load until absolutely necessary." "You know how Torres can be...she is going to push herself to the limit."

Dr. Webber nodded and said "Alright then." He shook his head and chuckled and left Mark's office.

Mark finished his notes and then left to scrub in for surgery. Mark was in surgery for three hours before he was finally finished. As he walked out of the operating room he spotted Derek walking toward him with determination.

"Mark...I need to talk to you." "Let's go to my office." said Derek leading the way to his office.

Mark followed Derek into his office and closed the door behind him. "What is going on?" "Everything okay?"

"A kid with a broken arm came in looking for you specifically." said Derek. "He wouldn't tell us anything about himself…he said he will only talk to you." "We need to find out who is parents are so that we can get permission for surgery." "Looks like he is going to need a pin put into that broken arm."

Mark said "And he asked for me specifically?" "Maybe he is a former patient or something." "Sure I will talk to the kid.' "Where is he?"

Derek said "He is down in the ER. I called Callie in for a consult." Derek led the way to the ER.

Callie walked over and said "I took a look at the x-rays. He is definitely going to need a pin put in that arm." "We've already given him pain medication which means the surgery will have to be pushed back a few hours. We can't put him under anesthesia with morphine in his system." "The sooner we find out who he is and where his parents are…the better."

Mark said "Alright I will do my best to talk to him and get his information." "Did he come in with any identification?" asked Mark looking to Derek.

Derek shook his head and said "Nothing. He won't even tell us his first name." He opened the curtain and in the bed was a teenage boy. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. "This is Dr. Sloan." "Is this the doctor you were talking about?" asked Derek.

Mark walked into the area. "Hi, I am Dr. Mark Sloan." Mark got a look at the boy's arm. "Your arm is pretty bad off." "We need to get your contact information so that we can call your parents." "We need their permission to conduct the surgery."

The boy looked at Mark and smiled. "Can you get permission from my dad?"

Mark nodded and said "Sure. Your mom and your dad would be good. But just your dad is good." "What is his name and a phone number we can reach him at?"

The boy said "My name is Noah Patrick Sloan. And you're my dad."

Mark stared at the boy with a dumbfounded look. Mark looked over at Derek and then back to the boy. "What makes you think that I am your father?" "Because we have the same last name?" asked Mark.

The boy reached into his pocket with the arm that wasn't broken and pulled out a picture.

Mark took the picture and looked at it. It was a picture of Mark and an old girlfriend Diana Burke. He turned the picture over on the back and saw the caption written there. 'Mark Sloan and Diana Foster. Martha's Vineyard' Mark looked at the year on the picture and then looked at the boy. "How old are you Noah?"

Noah said "I am 14…" "My mom…she always said that she didn't know where you were or how to find you." "But…I heard her tell my step-dad that you were a big shot plastic surgeon now." "So I started searching the internet for you." "And I found you….so I came here to meet you." "I was crossing the street to come into the hospital…and I got hit by a cab." "It doesn't hurt much anymore." said Noah

Mark said "Listen…we need to talk to your mom okay." "We need to do surgery to fix your arm…and I can't give that permission…"

"I can't…she doesn't know that I'm here." "She's going to be so mad." said Noah.

"You know what…I bet she will just be happy to know that you are okay…" said Mark.

Noah paused for a minute and then said "Okay…" He handed Mark his cell phone.

Mark said "Okay…I will be right back." Mark walked out of the ER area and had a seat running a tired hand over his face. He hadn't talked to Diana since that weekend in Martha's Vineyard. They had broken up and she told him that she never wanted to speak to him again. He bit the bullet and looked through the boy's cell phone for Diana's number and then picked up a phone at the nurses' station to call her.

The line picked up and a female answered the phone. "Hello?"

Mark said "Hello, could I speak with Diana Burke?"

"This is Diana Burke. May I ask who is calling?" asked Diana.

Mark said "This is Dr. Mark Sloan from Seattle Grace Hospital. Your son Noah Sloane has been admitted to the hospital." "He was hit by a cab and serious damage was done to his arm." "He is going to need surgery to repair the damage." "We need your permission for that." Mark explained the procedure that would be done.

Diana froze hearing Mark's voice. "I live in Portland, Oregon." "It will be a couple of hours before I can get a sitter and drive up there." "Can I just give my permission over the phone?"

Mark said "Sure, you can do that…" "We will see you when you get here." Mark hung up and then looked to Derek. "We have the go ahead for the surgery…" "So…"

Derek asked "Is he your son?"

Mark said "He could be….he definitely could be."


	10. Chapter 10

Callie had another surgery to do and so she was gone for two hours. After she scrubbed out she went back down to the ER to check on her next patient. She checked in on Noah and then she saw Mark looking distracted standing at the nurses' station. She walked over to him and lightly touched his shoulder. "Is everything okay Mark?" "You have been acting strange ever since you came down here earlier."

"Callie I need to talk to you about something important. Do you have time to talk?" asked Mark. He deiced that just telling her out right was the best idea. Trying to wrap his mind around this in silence was driving him a little crazy.

Callie nodded and said "Sure, we can talk. Is everything okay?" "You have me a little worried now." "We can go to one of the on call rooms to talk." Callie was worried that Mark had gotten into an argument with George or something.

Mark took her hand and walked with her to one of the on call room and had a seat on a bed. "The boy in the emergency room...thinks that he is my son and it is a possibility. His mother is an ex-girlfriend of mine. I haven't seen her in about 15 years...Noah is 14 years old. She gave him my last name...I don't know what to make of it. When I called to get permission for the surgery she didn't acknowledge anything but I could tell she was surprised to hear my voice. I don't know what is going on...she is supposed to be here soon...she is coming in from Portland."

Callie sat there stunned for a moment. "Wow Sloan…you are on a roll. You found out about three kids in a matter of two days." "Portland? What is he doing all the way here in Seattle on his own?" asked Callie reaching out to take his hand.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Leave it to you to make a joke. He came here to find me apparently…I didn't get much more out of him. I was in shock and I need to get in touch with his mother about the surgery. I guess the best I can do is ask her about it when she gets here."

"Well, do you think that he is your son? Do you want him to be your son?" asked Callie.

"I don't know…I mean…I guess when I really think about it…yes…I do. I don't know what to think…why wouldn't Diana have told me about him if he was my son. I mean maybe she just gave him my last name…" said Mark. "Just sit here with me for awhile please." "I just need some peace and quiet and you." "How are you feeling by the way?" Mark wrapped one arm around Callie's shoulders and his other hand dropped to her stomach. "I can't wait until we start feeling some movement in there."

Callie said "I don't know…women do strange things when they scared or worried. Sure I can sit here with you for a little while." "You know I am here for you babe." "I've got you babe." She laughed and said "Could you not refer to my womb as in there?" "I feel like an object."

He laughed and said "You are an object." "A sexual object. We are all alone in here…think we could squeeze in a quickie?" asked Mark with a wink.

"I am not having sex with you in an on call room." Callie kissed him. She was saying no but her body was leaning toward yes.

Mark kissed her passionately and slid his hands under her scrubs' top and laid her back on the bed

Callie managed to pull away from him. "Knock it off Sloan. We will have sex at home." She laughed and said "Besides I've got to get ready for surgery soon." She slid from under Mark's body and smoothed out her scrubs."I will see you later."

Mark groaned said "But Cal….come on…"

"It's not happening Sloan." said Callie.

He chuckled and said "Well, you can't blame me for trying…" "I am glad that you are the one is operating on Noah. It is good to know that he is in great hands."

"I will make sure that the surgery is a success. Goodbye Mark." She leaned in and kissed his cheek and then left the room. She was worried about how this was going to affect Mark.

Mark sat there a few minutes by himself and then got up and walked back down to the emergency room to check on Noah. He walked over to Noah's bed. "How are you holding up?" asked Mark. Mark pulled over a stool and had a seat next to Noah's bed.

"The pain is starting to come back…my arm really hurts." said Noah tears collecting in his eyes from the pain. "But the nurse said they can't give me anything else until after the surgery."

Mark said "I know that it is hard but they have to do that to keep you save. Too much medication can be bad when they put you to sleep for the surgery." "I called your mom …she said that she would be here soon. She says that you guys live in Portland, Oregon. What are you doing all the way up here?"

"I came here to find you. I took a bus all the way here. It took longer than I thought it would. They kept making all of these stops in between. I wanted to come here and meet you. I always wondered what my real dad was like, but my mom would never talk about you." "She doesn't like me very much anymore…"

"I am sure that isn't true…what makes you think that?" asked Mark.

"She got married again a couple of years ago…and her husband doesn't like me. She says that I am always causing trouble for them. She is always mad at me. I heard her tell my aunt that she wished it was just Robert, her, and their kids. I make him mad a lot…" said Noah shrugging. "He doesn't like me as much as he likes his kids…"

Mark felt his anger burning at the prospect of this kid being mistreated whether he was his son or not. Mark was about to say something with Callie walked in with a nurse. "Hi Noah, I am Dr. Torres we are going to take for your surgery now." "Do you have any questions?"

Noah asked "Will it take a long time?"

Callie smiled and said "No, it is a pretty simple surgery." "We are going to take good care of you. You have my word." They got his bed ready to move.

Noah looked to Mark. "Will, you be here when I get back?"

Mark smiled at him and said "You bet I will."

Callie and the nurses moved Noah to the OR.

Mark watched Noah be rolled away and then walked over to the nurses' station. "Page me when his mother arrives." Mark went to his office to do some work to keep his mind off everything right now. About 30 minutes later there was a knock on his office door. "Come in." called Mark.

Diana walked into the room. "Hello Mark…all of this is so ironic….I was under the assumption that I would never see you again. Yet I am standing here in your office." "They told me Noah is in surgery."

Mark said "Diana…is he my son?" Mark didn't have time for a long speech about anything. He wanted to know the truth.

"Yes, he is your son. Are you happy?" asked Diana sarcastically.

"Why didn't you ever tell me Diana? When did you get pregnant?" asked Mark shaking his head.

"I was pregnant that last weekend in Martha's Vineyard. I was going to tell about it but…but then I realized how terrible of a father you would be. You are irresponsible, reckless, and wouldn't know what faithful was if it bit you in the rear end. I decided to raise my son on my own." "But I should have known better he received your genes. The older he has gotten the worse he has gotten and he is making my life a living hell."

"He told me that you didn't like him…but I was sure he was mistaken. What kind of mother doesn't like her own kid? Or maybe you don't like him because your new husband doesn't like him." said Mark.

"Robert is hardly my new husband. I've been married to him for four years now. We have three little ones and Noah is just…a chore sometimes…he tries our patience. That doesn't mean I don't love my son." said Diana. "I need this marriage to work I cannot be a single mother for 4 children." "I just can't do that. So I need Robert to stick around. Maybe it is good that Noah located you…I was going to send him back East to live with my parents…but maybe this is a better solution."

"Me? He doesn't even know me. You want to abandon him just because he doesn't get along with your husband? You are going to damage this kid…he is always going to know that you picked your husband over him. What do you think that is going to do to him?"

"It is better than him causing trouble at my house and making all of us miserable. I am not going to lose my husband because Noah can't seem to adapt. I have a life to live too and I have sacrificed for 14 years. I won't sacrifice anymore. You can take him or he can live with my parents but I can't do it anymore. The constant fighting between him and Robert is making everyone unhappy. So you can judge me all you want…I don't care. Do you want the kid or not?" asked Diana.

Mark just stared at her not believing the words falling out of her mouth. "Get out of my office. I will call my lawyer and see what I can do about this."

"Fine, he should have to stay here a day or two after the surgery right? He doesn't have to come home with me or anything right?" asked Diana.

"No, don't worry he won't be burdening you anymore Diana." said Mark sarcastically.

Diana sighed feeling tears wetting the corner of her eyes "I love my son…I just don't know how to take care of him anymore. I've got three other kids to worry about…if Robert leaves…where does that leave all of us…Noah is a good boy…he just butts heads with Robert all of the time. And maybe that is what teenage boys do with their father figures…but it drives Robert crazy. I am always having to separate the two of them because…I am scared that it is going to get physical." "Noah isn't a little boy anymore…he isn't going to take crap from Robert…" "I don't want Robert to hurt my son because he stands up for himself…but it could happen." "Tell Noah I love him…please."

"You aren't going to stay until he gets out of surgery?" asked Mark. "You should at least stay and talk to him to let him know what is going on. This will be a lot for him to process and I think that he should hear it from you."

"Why should I?" "He's with you now. I can send his stuff by UPS…just give me a few days to get it together." said Diana walking out of the office.

Mark sat there stunned not believing what had just taken place. He had just taken responsibility for a boy that might be his son. His mind raced at all of the things he needed to do. He started by ordering a DNA test on the boy. Mark swabbed his own mouth and dropped it off at the lab. He then went back to his office and called his lawyer he needed to know what he needed to do to make sure that he had custodial rights if this was his son.


	11. Chapter 11

The surgery took longer than Callie anticipated. She left the OR feeling exhausted but very happy with the results of the surgery. Callie took pride in all of her surgeries and did more than her best but this one was different. She was operating on the son of the man she was in love with. Callie scrubbed out and went to find Mark.

Mark had already finished his shift for the day and was waiting around to find out about Noah's surgery. He trusted Callie but he was still worried about Noah. He found himself wanting to peer into the OR but he stopped himself from doing it. He didn't want to see it and he didn't want add pressure on Callie. Mark spotted Callie and quickly closed the distance between them. "How is he?"

"He is doing great Mark. There was a little more damage than I originally anticipated and we and had some trouble because it appears as if this isn't the first time his arm has been broken. But the surgery was a success. He should heal well. I think he will be able to be released in the next day or so as long his progress is good." said Callie.

Mark saw the tired expression on her first. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. "How are you feeling? You look exhausted Cal. When you get home tonight you need to get some rest…a lot of rest." asked Mark concerned.

"I am doing good Mark. I am glad that my shift is almost over. I want to go home and rest. My body is just a little tired but it is nothing that I can't handle. So don't start worrying about my health this early in the pregnancy okay. We still have months for you to worry. Is Noah's mother here?" asked Callie.

"I just want to make sure that you and the babies are okay. Twins put a lot of stress on the body…especially with this being your first pregnancy and you work a high stress job where you are on your feet a lot." Mark shook his head. "She came…and then left. She is leaving him here with me. Apparently, she can't be bothered with Noah because he doesn't get along with her husband. She is worried that if the two of them continue fighting that her husband will leave her. So, either I can take custody of him or she will be sending him to her parents back in Massachusetts. We have a lot to talk about when we get home Cal…"

Callie looked into his eyes and saw the trepidation. Callie gave a supportive smile and pulled him aside. "If you want to keep your son I support you 100% Mark. I would never ask you to turn your back on your child…never. I wouldn't want to be with a man that could do such a thing. He obviously really needs you in his life…he left Portland and traveled all the way to Seattle by himself to find you."

Mark smiled a tired smile. "I had a feeling that would be your response. But I wanted to talk to you about this and not just make this decision on my own. This isn't just my life…this is our life."

"Well, I would be glad to have your son as part of our life. And we have room for him in the penthouse...though with a boy his age we might actually need to find a real house…but we will take everything one step at a time. Did his mother bring any clothes for him or?" asked Callie.

"No, Diana said that she would send Noah's things through UPS. I don't know how long that will take…in the meantime I guess I can just take him shopping when he gets released from the hospital and he can pick out the essentials." said Mark.

Callie said "He is going to need clothes just to leave the hospital when he is released, which will probably be tomorrow or the next day at the latest. When I leave the hospital tonight I will stop by whatever is open and pick up some clothes for him. And…what else do you think he might need?"

"I don't know…I will come with you and we can figure it out together. We can ask him what he thinks he needs once he wakes up. I already called my lawyer. I am supposed to meet with him tomorrow afternoon. I want actual custody. I don't want Diana being able to walk back into Noah's life and take him from us whenever the mood strikes her." said Mark.

Callie said "That is the best thing to do. He needs stability…it will be hard knowing his mother doesn't want him. Even if you don't say anything to him he is old enough to figure it out…"

"I just want to give him as normal life as possible. He went through whatever he has been through because of my irresponsibility. Diana didn't trust me enough when she was pregnant to even tell me." said Callie.

"That is on her not you. You may have been the biggest whore around and irresponsible but she is the one that chose not to tell you. Don't let her put the guilt on you. She is the one that is wrong in this situation. We will give Noah a good home. It will be an adjustment for all of us but I know that we can do it. I need to go I have work to do before I leave." said Callie. She flashed a smile at Mark and headed off. She was nervous about everything. They hadn't been a couple for very long and she was pregnant. They both had hectic schedules. How on Earth were they going to give a 14 year old boy the love and attention he truly needed? She could sense Mark's nervousness and didn't want to add her worries onto his. The important thing was that they were in this together.

Mark watched Callie walk off and smiled to himself. There was something about that woman that made him feel like he could do anything. Mark went to sit in Noah's room to wait for him to wake up. Mark ran over all of the thoughts running through his mind.

Noah woke up after awhile. He looked around the room feeling groggy still. Noah looked over and saw Mark sitting there. He smiled and said "Hi."

Mark smiled back and said "Hi….your surgery went well. You should start to heal soon. How are you feeling?"

"I feel tired." said Noah finding it hard to focus on anything at the moment.

"That is normal after surgery." said Mark.

"Is my mom here?' asked Noah with a hopeful voice. At the moment he seemed like a small boy looking for his mother.

It broke Mark's heart to have to be the bearer of bad news for Noah. "Well, I talked to your mom and we agreed that you should stay with me for awhile That way I can get to know you and you can get to know me…we've got 14 years to catch up on…"

Noah blinked back tears and said "I told you that she hates me…she doesn't want me anymore." Noah stared up at the ceiling not wanting to look at Mark while he was crying.

"Hey…look at me. Your mom does not hate you. She loves you so much…and it was very hard for her to leave you here with me. I know you don't know me…but I will always be here for you…because that is what a father is supposed to do…I am going to warn you in advance…I don't know anything about being a dad but we will figure it out together…okay?" Mark looked at the tears slipping down his son's cheeks and felt fairly helpless. "We are going to have a lot of fun getting to know one another Noah…and I think you will really like my girlfriend Callie…she is the doctor that operated on your arm…you will be coming to live with us…"

"Will I have my own room?" asked Noah.

"Sure…you will have your own room…and whatever you need we will get you okay? When you are released from the hospital I will take you shopping. I know that this all seems scary right now but we will get through it together." said Mark.

Mark sat with Noah for nearly two hours. Sometimes they were talking other times Noah was just quiet.

Callie poked her head into the room after knocking on the door.

Mark looked up and smiled. "Noah, I want to introduce you to someone…this is my girlfriend Dr. Callie Torres."

Callie smiled and said "Hi Noah. It is really nice to meet you. How are you feeling?"

Noah smiled tentatively. "Hi. I am feeling better. My arm doesn't hurt so much."

"Well, I am glad to hear that. I am really happy that you are moving in with us. You'll have to tell us what types of foods and movies you like so we can pick all of that up." said Callie with a cheerful smile even though she was dead tired.

Mark smiled at her and said "Well, we've been talking about what he likes. I even wrote some of it down so that I don't forget any of it."

Callie smiled and said "Well, good that will make shopping easier for us."

Mark kissed Callie's cheek. "I am going to stick around until he falls asleep…"

Noah said "That is okay…I am already sleepy…"

Mark smiled and said "it is still early. I am going to stay for longer. I will just catch a cab home." Mark said "I will see you at home Cal."

Callie said "I think I will just take a nap in the on-call room. Have a goodnight Noah."

Noah said "Goodnight Dr. Torres."

Callie smiled at him and said "You can just call me Callie." Callie waved to both of them and then left the room.

Callie went to the on-call room and was glad to see it was empty. She climbed into a bed and closed her eyes tiredly. She drifted off to sleep in no time.

An hour later Mark walked into the room and spotted Callie. He sat next to her on the bed. "Cal…" whispered Mark kissing her cheek. "I am ready to leave."

Callie opened her eyes and stretched. "How is Noah doing?"

"He is upset that his mom didn't stay to see him…and I think he is nervous about moving in with us…he is scared that he won't see his mom or younger siblings again…mostly he is just scared. The poor kid is being taken through the wringer and doesn't know which way is up. We talked a lot though…I found he likes Yankees baseball… and he likes to play soccer. He loves pizza and Chinese food." said Mark chuckling.

Callie said "We will help him through this and maybe once things settle down…maybe he can visit his mom for weekends or something…"

Mark said "I don't know…it didn't really seem that way…maybe she can make the trip up here to visit him. Anyway, let's get out of here."

Callie looked at her watch and said "We've got two hours until the mall closes. We can go there and do some shopping for Noah." Callie got out of the bed and waited on Mark to follow her.

"We could always go tomorrow…" said Mark worried about her being so tired.

"He might get released tomorrow Mark. We want him to have clothes and some stuff of his own to come home too…we need to make this transition as easy on him as possible. The last thing he needs is anymore trauma. So I worked out a list of essentials in my head. I say we pick up five pairs of jeans, five pairs of pajamas, shirts….the works." said Callie.

Mark said "Okay we can go tonight if you feel up to it."

Callie smiled and said "I am feeling good." Callie left the hospital with Mark.


	12. Chapter 12

Callie stood looking at Noah's room and took in a deep breath. She was hoping that he would like his room…she was hoping that he would like his new home for that matter. Noah had stayed in the hospital for four extra days battling an infection. But he had a clean bill of health now. Today was her day off so she had spent the last couple of hours making sure his room was set up for his arrival. She smiled seeing all of the Yankees memorabilia that Mark had managed to find for the room. The last two days had been a whirlwind of shopping and activity for Callie and Mark. The two of them had essentially bought an entire wardrobe for Noah and things to entertain him. Callie looked around the room one more time deciding that there was no more she could do to get the room ready. She walked out of Noah's bedroom and had a seat on the couch. Derek had helped Mark get the room together by helping him paint. Callie hadn't been able to stop laughing watching the two surgeons struggle to paint. Eventually Callie had just hired a local crew to fix their mistakes.

Mark walked up to the Penthouse door with Noah. "How is your arm?" asked Mark looking at his son before unlocking the door.

"It hurts a little. I think the stuff they gave me is wearing off." complained Noah. He was more than a little nervous. Sure he wanted to find his father and spend time with him but he never thought that his mother would kick him out and force him to live with his father.

Mark said "Well, I picked up your prescriptions on the way home. Once I get you settled in I'll give you the next dose. That should help ease the pain." Mark pushed open the penthouse door letting Noah walk in first.

Noah walked inside and said "Wow…." He looked around. Everything looked so…very different than what he was used to living in. He walked over to the large set of windows looking out at the twinkling skyline. "This is awesome."

Mark smiled watching the awe on Noah's face. He closed the door and locked it and then walked over to Callie. "Hi Cal. How are you feeling?" asked Mark.

"I am fine." said Callie kissing his cheek.

Noah turned around and said "This place is awesome."

Callie chuckled and said "Well, we hope that you are going to like living here with us. What would you like for dinner? I'll order something while Mark shows you around the penthouse and to your bedroom."

"Umm…I don't know…could we have pizza?" asked Noah looking at Callie. It was a little weird being here with two people he didn't know. Sure they had both made a point of spending plenty of time with him in the hospital but it still felt strange.

"Sure we can. What kind of toppings do you want?" asked Callie grabbing a pen and notepad so she could write down what he wanted.

"Uh pepperoni and mushrooms with extra cheese, please." said Noah. He moved his arm a little and groaned in pain.

Callie smiled and said "Alright you two have fun while I order dinner."

Mark smiled and kissed Callie's cheek. "Thanks." Mark said "Come on kid let me show you around." Mark gave Noah a tour of the penthouse showing him where everything was located. He then took him to his room. Mark opened the door and let Noah step inside first.

Noah walked into the room and looked around his mouth agape as he saw the Yankees themed bedroom. From the Yankees bed spread covering his queen size bed to the framed Yankees posters on the walls. The room had even been painted a dark blue with white pinstripes by the crew Callie had hired. "This is so cool!" said Noah.

Mark said "Well, you said that you were a Yankees fan. I thought you might like your room this way. I hope I didn't go too far overboard with the theme. I am quite a fan myself. Sometimes I miss living in New York because I don't get to go to the games as much. I am surprised you are a fan living all the way out here."

Noah walked around his room looking at everything and had a seat on his bed. "This is so awesome! Yeah...my mom is a big Yankees fan. She bought the sports package so that we'd always get the Yankee game even out here." He looked over at the laptop and said "Is that mine?"

Mark nodded and said "Your mom always was a Yankees fan. I think she might have been a bigger diehard fan than I was. I took her to a few games when we were younger. Well, Callie and I thought you might like the laptop and IPod...might give you something to do. We don't want you to be too bored here. I know all of this is a lot to take in but I hope that you are very happy here with us Noah. We bought some clothes and shoes and stuff for you. If you don't like it we can always go shopping for more. And maybe tomorrow we'll need to talk about finding a school for you... for the next school year. I talked to your mom yesterday and she told me you've already finished your final exams at school and all that is left is for them to send out your report card."

Noah got up and looked in the closet to see the clothes that Mark had purchased for him. He opened a few of the drawers on the dresser as well. "I think this is more stuff than I have at home." said Noah sitting down on his bed again. He looked over at the television. "I get a TV in my bedroom! Awesome!" He stopped and looked at Mark. "You talked to my mom? Did she ask about me? I mean like how I was doing and stuff?" asked Noah quietly.

"I am glad you like what we bought you. Sure you can have a TV in your room just make sure once school starts up again you go to bed at a reasonable time. Like...before midnight..." said Mark chuckling. He had a seat next to Noah. "Yeah she called yesterday to see how you were doing. She was worried about how your surgery turned out. I told her that you came through with flying colors. She misses you Noah...but right now...we both think it is best if you stay here with me..."

Noah nodded a little. He was sad all over again. He scooted back in his bed some and said "This is a really big bed."

Mark smiled and said "Yeah…sorry. It was the bed that was in here already. We can get you something smaller if you want."

"No…I like it…" said Noah. He groaned a little moving his arm.

Mark said "I am going to go get your medicine and some water. I'll be right back." Mark got up and walked out of the room and into the kitchen with a sigh. He grabbed a bottle of water and the bag with Noah's medicine in it. He looked over at the counter and looked at Callie. "What are you doing?"

Callie laughed a little. "I am eating ice cream before dinner…I am still going to eat dinner too so it all balances out in the end right?" "Right." said Callie answering her own question. "How is Noah doing?" asked Callie.

"He's upset…misses his mom. He's trying to be brave about it all but he's scared and he wants to go home. And I don't know how to tell him that…it can't happen…not now…not ever." said Mark looking at Callie. In the days since first meeting Noah more pieces of the puzzle had come together and Mark now knew that Noah had been physically abused by his step-father. It tore Mark up inside and it also made him angry. And more than anything he wanted the guy prosecuted but his lawyer had advised him that it might not be as easy to prove and it could mean a lengthy investigation. So for the moment Mark was holding off on pressing charges until he could get Noah to open up more. But the good news was that the custody situation had already been taken care of and Mark was the legal guardian of Noah now and Dianna had visitation rights.

"Mark…he was being abused by his step-father. This is the best situation for him. I don't care if he is 14 and rebelling…you don't punch a kid in the face. And that is just what Diana told you…couple that with the remodeled fractures I saw in his arm when I did the xrays and there are only a couple of conclusions to be drawn." said Callie.

"I know all of that…I know…but he looks so sad. He loves his mother so much I can't tell him that he can't go back there anymore and that…she probably won't come to visit him here. And that all of this might end up with him having to talk to investigators about the abuse. I don't know what happened to her she used to be a spitfire. I can't believe that she's changed so much that she would let someone harm her own flesh and blood." said Mark.

"People do crazy things in the name of not being alone. One day she is going to look around and wonder if all the sacrifices she made for her husband were worth what she lost…and she will realize what she has done. In the meantime all you can do is be the best father you can for Noah. Maybe get him into some counseling?" said Callie.

Mark sighed and nodded. "I know..." He kissed her cheek and stole a bite of her ice cream. "I am going to go give him his medicine." said Mark walking out of the kitchen and back to Noah's room. Mark walked into the room and said "Okay Noah. Here is your medicine. I will have to wake you up in the middle of the night for another dose. I don't want you waking up in the morning in pain." Mark handed him two tablets and the bottle of water after he opened it.

Noah took the pills and washed them down with water. "Thanks…" Noah had already turned on his television. "You have so many cool channels…"

Mark groaned thinking about a couple of cool channels his teenage son didn't need to see. He'd have to use the parental blocks on the TV so Noah wouldn't stumble onto them. Mark smiled and said "Good, hopefully you will find something you like to watch. We have some DVDs here and we bought a few that you might like…you'll have to tell me what else you like."

"Okay…I am not a big movie fan anyway though. A lot of them are really boring. Thank you for all of the stuff you bought me. I like all of it." said Noah glancing around his bedroom.

"Well, it is the least I could do to get you settled in here. This is your home so I want you to feel comfortable here okay. So you don't have to stay cooped up in here. Though when I was your age I liked being in my room." said Mark. He took a breath thinking about what to say next. "I know that this is a lot to process right now. And I know you might be scared or confused. But if you need to talk or if you have questions about anything at all…you can just ask me okay?" Mark walked over to the dresser and picked up a cell phone. "This is for you. If you ever need me when I am at work or out of the house just call me okay." said Mark handing him the phone. "I found a couple of cool camps you might want to go to."

Noah nodded and said "Okay…" Noah didn't feel comfortable asking anything. More importantly he was worried that if he didn't do good here he'd get shipped off back East to his grandparents or worse…be put into foster care or something. That was one of the reasons he had never told anyone about his step-father hitting him. He was worried that since he was the problem that they would just throw him in foster care which he understood to be a very scary place. "Camps? Oh how long would I be away?" asked Noah thinking Mark was trying to get rid of him too.

Mark saw the trepidation on his son's face and said "They are day camps…you'd be there from the morning until the afternoon and then I would come and pick you up. It is mostly so you don't have to be here in the house by yourself all day every day. Come on why don't you head into the living room and we can wait for the pizza to arrive?'

A smile broke out on Noah's face when he realized Mark wasn't trying to get rid of him. Noah said "Okay." He got out of the bed and headed out the door and went to the living room to wait for the pizza to arrive.

Mark sat there a minute collecting himself and putting the parental blocks on the unsavory channels. He left Noah's room and walked into the living room as the pizza was arriving. "I'll get it." said Mark going to the door. Mark opened the door and paid for the pizzas. He tipped the guy and then closed the door. "How much pizza did you order Cal?" asked Mark laughing since he was holding three boxes and two bottles of coca cola.

"I bought extra just in case I wanted cold pizza in the morning." said Callie laughing at him. She got up and headed over to the dining table that was situated near the wall of windows. She had already set the table for dinner and made a salad to go with the pizza.

Noah walked over to the table and looked around not knowing where to sit. He didn't want to sit in anyone's chair and have them get mad at him.

Callie noticed him looking confused. She gave him a warm smile. "You can sit anywhere Noah. There are no assigned seats. To be honest your father usually perches himself on the couch and watches TV during dinner."

Mark laughed and said "Thanks Cal just throw me under the bus." He smiled at her.

Noah laughed too and picked a seat in the middle of the six chair table. He was seated so that he could look out of the windows.

Mark had a seat at the head of the table so that he was fairly close to Noah.

Callie had a seat on the other side of Mark so that she was across from Noah.

Mark smiled and said "Look at us having like a family meal at the table. We are right out of Norman Rockwell or something." Mark opened the boxes of pizza looking at the toppings. "Looks like this pizza is yours kiddo." Mark sat the box by Noah and then opened the other one. He handed it over to Callie. "I guess this last one is mine then."

Callie chuckled and said "Yes, I wouldn't force you to eat my ham, bacon, and pineapple pizza. But it is really good." Callie grabbed a few slices from the box and poured pop for everyone at the table.

"That does sound good. I love ham and pineapple pizza." said Noah. "Who is Norman Rockwell?" asked Noah looking at Mark.

"He was an artist that did like portraits of American family life…like dinner scenes and stuff like that." said Mark feeling quite old.

"Do you want a slice?" asked Callie picking up her pizza box and tilting it toward him.

"Really? Thanks." said Noah grabbing a slice of piece. He bit down eating half of the slice in one bite.

Mark laughed and said "Okay I know why Callie is eating pineapple on her pizza…she is a crazy pregnant woman. But you too son?"

"The pineapple is sweet so it is really good with the ham." said Noah laughing as he ate the rest of the slice.

Callie chuckled and said "Exactly, pineapple and ham just go together." She smiled and said "Just wait until I bake a ham Sloan. I use canned pineapples, the pineapple juice, and a little fresh pineapple for garnish."

Noah said "Oh that sounds really good."

Mark chuckled and said "All I ask if that you cook me a bird of some kind…"

Callie chuckled and said "We'll see…I make no promises." Callie ate her pizza.

Mark said "So I was telling Noah about some of the cool camps that we looked at for him." Mark got up from the table and walked over to the coffee table picking up the brochures. Mark set them next to Noah. "We thought that you might like one of these. I am sorry that you can't do any sports ones right now. But this is just the beginning of the summer. By July you should be ready for a sports camp if you want."

Noah looked at the brochures and said "I like this…it is a Game Design camp. It looks really cool." Noah looked genuinely excited about it. "We learn how to design video games and stuff. I really like games."

Mark smiled and said "Well, good looks like we have a winner. I will see about getting you signed up for it tomorrow."

Noah smiled and said "Okay." He ate his pizza and read the brochure that was laying on the table.

Mark smiled over at Callie feeling a little better about how everything was going.

A/N: Hey! Sorry for the delay in the update everyone. I sort of lost my muse for awhile. But I am back and ready to go. I hope you'll still read and review. Thanks for sticking around!


	13. Chapter 13

After a couple of hours of the three of them hanging out together and watching a basketball game Noah said goodnight to Mark and Callie and went to his room for the night. He was exhausted and fell asleep in no time at all.

Mark checked the front door making sure that it was locked and then walked into the bedroom that he and Callie shared. He closed the door behind him hearing the shower running in their bathroom. He was too tired to get excited. Usually he would be stripping down and sneaking into the shower to have fun with his beautiful girlfriend but tonight he found himself just stripping down to his boxers and pulling on a pair of navy blue pajama pants. He climbed into their bed and waited on Callie to come out of the bathroom.

Callie walked out of the bathroom 15 minutes later dressed in a black cotton night gown with lace at the gem. Her hair was freshly blow dried and she looked absolutely beautiful. She quietly made her way over to the bed thinking that Mark was already asleep for the night. She frowned seeing his clothes on the floor. "Seriously?" muttered Callie in a hushed voice. She picked up the clothes and walked over to the hamper tossing them in. Callie climbed into the bed trying not to disturb Mark.

Mark moved when Callie got into the bed. "I feel like I've been neglecting you these last couple of days. How are you and the babies doing?" asked Mark turning his head in her direction. He smiled looking at how beautiful she was. "I am sorry about the clothes on the floor by the way. I just sort of kicked them off and climbed into bed."

"You haven't been neglecting me at all Mark. You've had a lot on your plate but you've done a great job making sure that we got everything done in time for Noah. We are doing good I think. I wish this morning sickness would disappear…and the backaches are killing me. But other than that I feel really good. Is it strange that I feel like shopping for the babies?" said Callie.

"Well, you are approaching your second trimester. You are rounding out week 12 right…? In another 3 or 4 weeks your morning sickness should end…if you are lucky. I am sure that isn't much of a consolation in the mean time though. No it isn't strange at all…I mean that is what you women do right…shop for the baby get ready for all of that. I guess at some point we will have to work on converting that other room into a nursery." said Mark.

"Yeah because throwing up in the middle of the day is so fun. I had to hold it back yesterday while I was in surgery. Luckily the urgent sense sort of dissipated the longer I stood there. But for a moment I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. I can't wait until we find out the genders of the babies. I want to wait until then to work on the nursery. But I have a lot of ideas…like if the twins are both boys…we could for a maritime theme….or ducks…or the Yankees of course. And if we are having girls…I was thinking like a pink paisley theme in the room. Or pink damask. Okay maybe not pink…maybe like robin's egg blue?" said Callie.

Mark chuckled and said "That would have been a sight to see. So have you talked to the Chief yet? I think all of your ideas are great Cal. Whatever you want for the nursery that is what we will do. What if we are having one of both?"

"Of course. I talked to him and I told him I'd be maintaining a full load until it was no longer possible. So I am looking to stay on until my 32nd week. I figure at that point I might want to cut back." said Callie optimistically. "One of both? I think I would do something gender neutral like Classic Winnie the Pooh or perhaps some jungle them. I don't know I have like a million different ideas. I know for sure that I want like really beautiful sturdy wood furniture for the room. I want that classic…timeless feel. I really want the crib to be on opposing sides of the room. With painted wooden blocks spelling out both babies' names." She sighed happily thinking everything through.

Mark quirked an eyebrow at her not sure if he even wanted to tackle this conversation right then and there. "Cal…I admire your tenacity…I really do. But I don't think that you are going to be able to maintain a schedule like that for that long. You are carrying twins and you have a demanding schedule as it is…."

Callie cut him off by kissing him and moving so that she was straddling his waist. "We can talk about that later…much later." murmured Callie against his lips. Callie sat back for a moment and pulled the straps of her thin cotton night gown down from her shoulders allowing her cleavage to spill out. "Are you tired?" asked Callie. She lightly kissed his neck. The truth was she had missed the physical contact between them over the last couple of days.

"Cal we need to talk about this realistically…" said Mark stopping in his tracks when he saw her breasts come into view. Every bone in his body said that he was exhausted and in no mood for sex but looking at her partially nude body his lower half was getting some other ideas.

Callie leaned back down and kissed him and then kissed his neck. "I've missed you so much these last couple of days…I don't think we've been this long without sex since we've been together. 4 days is much too long…" murmured Callie in a sexy purr.

Mark groaned in pleasure feeling her bare breast pressed against his chest. "We both have to be up early in the morning for work." argued Mark but it was a losing battle. He found himself kissing Callie and running his fingers through her long dark locks. He reached and pulled her nightgown from her body tossing it to the floor. He smirked looking down. "You aren't wearing panties. Did you come to bed thinking you would seduce me?" asked Mark.

Callie smirked and said "It had come across my mind at one point. I need you Mark…" Callie ran her hands over his chest but stopped looking into his eyes. She saw how tired he looked. In fact he didn't look very interested in this at all. Callie smiled a little. "You know…you are right. It is late and we do have an early morning." said Callie feeling a little foolish for throwing herself at him when he obviously was in no mood for it. She moved off of Mark. She had never known him to not be in the mood for sex.

Mark saw the disappointment in her eyes and perhaps a little worry…insecurity. He grabbed her hand stopping her from moving any further away from him. "You can't get me worked up and leave me high and dry…." said Mark. He rolled them over so that he was on top of her. He kissed her passionately to silence the protests he knew would spill from her lips for his benefit. Mark stripped off his pajama pants and boxers pressing his hardness against her to let her know just how much he wanted her at that moment.

Callie gasped quietly when Mark rolled them over. She went to protest but Mark stopped her before she could even speak. She returned his kisses. A lot of things ran through her mind. She was worried about their future if there was a future for the two of them. They were just starting to figure things out between the two of them and they had a readymade family now. She was worried that all of the pressure would give Mark an excuse to stray. She saw the way the nurses at the hospital still looked at him and flirted with him shamelessly. But before she could send herself into a full panic mode she was distracted by Mark moving his kisses from her neck to her chest. "Mark…." moaned Callie biting her lip to stifle the sounds of her moans.

"Mmm hmm?" asked Mark concentrating on pleasing her. He wanted to show her just how much he wanted her. He had seen that flash of insecurity in Callie's eyes and that was something he never wanted her to have to worry about. Mark caressed every inch of her as if he was trying to learn Braille by tracing his fingers over the curves of her body.

Callie's breathing hitched as Mark's hands roamed her body. He was as masterful in bed as he was in the operating room. Mark's hands knew how to pluck Callie's strings like she was a bass guitar and he was Keith Richards. "Mark…I need you…now…" whimpered Callie with a moan. She bit down on her lip more to keep quiet.

Mark looked down at her face thinking about how beautiful she looked at that moment. Her dark hair fanned out on the pillow behind her head. Her soft features contorting in pleasure as he worked his magic on her body. Her teeth bearing down on her plump luscious bottom lip ever so slightly. "I need you too…" whispered Mark as he joined the two of them with a guttural moan. There was a double meaning in his statement that he hoped wasn't lost on Callie. He loved this woman and he needed her in his life. She made the world make sense to him. Mark moved Callie's legs up around his waist and the two of them melted into one another. It was if the two of them were trying to make up for the days they had gone without having sex. After awhile they both collapsed in exhaustion and satiation. Mark collected Callie into his arms holding her. He kissed her softly. "I love you." said Mark.

"I love you too Mark." said Callie looking at him. She kissed him and then laid her head against his cheek.

Mark held her and relaxed for awhile feeling exhausted. He was about to say something to Callie when he looked over and saw that she was asleep. He listened and heard her breathing evening out. He smiled seeing her body curled against his and her right hand protectively laying across her stomach. Mark kissed the top of her head and got out of bed.

He headed into the bathroom to take a shower. He had a feeling he would sleep too late in the morning to shower before work. Mark took a long shower and then dried off and got dressed for bed. He walked over to the bed and pulled the blankets around Callie more so that she would get cold with central air running. He looked at the time and realized it was time to wake up Noah to give him his next dose of pain medication.

Mark walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water for Noah and then walked down the hall to Noah's room. Mark knocked lightly on thick mahogany door before gently pushing it open. Mark walked over to Noah's bed and flipped on the lamp. "Noah…it is time to take your medicine." said Mark trying not to startle his son.

Noah opened one eye and groaned tiredly. "Do I have to?" He sat up in bed a little.

"If you don't take it now you'll be hurting by the time the morning comes around." said Mark. He handed him the pills and took the cap off of the bottle of water.

"Thanks." said Noah sleepily. He popped the pills into his mouth and washed them down with the water. Noah slid back down in his bed tiredly putting the bottle on his nightstand. "Night." murmured Noah sleepily.

Mark chuckled slightly and said "Goodnight." Mark walked out of the room closing the door behind him. He walked across the hall to the guestroom and flipped on the light. Right now it was a tastefully decorated guest suite. But in 28 weeks it would be where his children would be sleeping. Mark wondered how his life changed so quickly and if he'd be able to adapt. This was a lot for a man that was used to living out of a hotel and sleeping with random nurses. He looked at the room picturing some of the ideas that Callie had tossed out that night while they laid together in bed. He smiled to himself. "Yes…I can picture that." said Mark to himself.

He walked back to his bedroom which was a good distance from the other two rooms. The main master suite was separated from the two other suites. He wondered how that would work once the twins were born. Mark closed the bedroom door behind him and climbed into the bed silently with Callie. He slid under the covers wrapping his arms around her nude form and closed his eyes tiredly.


	14. Chapter 14

Mark awoke the next morning to the sounds of Callie retching in their bathroom. It had become a routine for him and although he knew it was a natural process he always felt bad for her. Mark got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom and gently rubbed her back. He turned on the water in the sink dampening a towel. He put it on the back of Callie's neck. "How long have you been awake? I didn't even feel you get out of bed. I guess I was exhausted."

Callie continued for awhile before her stomach felt truly empty. She didn't know how much more of this morning sickness she could take. She reached up and flushed the toilet before getting up from the floor to brush her teeth. She had a towel wrapped around her and her hair was wet from her shower. She brushed her teeth wanting to get rid of the horrible taste in her mouth. Afterward she looked at Mark. "I hate you seeing me like that…hunched over the toilet bowl tossing my cookies. That is not the way you should see me first thing in the morning. It is so unsexy." said Callie.

Mark said "So what…? I get to see you at your worse. It's not like you are sick from some bender…you are pregnant and I want to be here to help you. Even if it is just a cool towel for the back of your neck and a comforting rub on the back. You are pregnant by me…besides you are always sexy to me. I don't know how good or bad of a father I am going to be but I am just glad that you are giving me that chance Callie." It still haunted him that Addison had aborted their baby.

Callie laughed softly and said "Yes, I am…so I can blame you for all of this…you and your potent sperm." She lightly punched his arm and buried her face in his chest. "I've never thrown up so hard that my diaphragm muscles actually hurt." complained Callie. She looked at his face and saw the pain in his eyes. "We are in this together…and you are going to be an amazing dad…"

"What can I say? I am a particularly virile man. They should study me for reproductive fitness." said Mark winking at her. He laughed when she punched his arm. "I'm sorry this is so hard on you baby…but it wouldn't hurt as much if you didn't try to fight the urge…you know it is going to happen so just let it happen. Stop trying to stop the onslaught. You are going to be a good mom too…"

She laughed and said "Logically I know that you are right but I can't stop myself from trying to hold back. I hate the feeling. I know all of this discomfort will be well worth it the first time I get to hold the babies. But for now it is just hell." said Callie getting dressed.

"I still don't know what to do with Noah today while we are both at work...I mean the last thing he needs is to be here by himself. I guess I can bring him to the hospital and let him hang out in my office while I am working. It isn't exactly a great fit but it is better than him being alone."

"Until we get Noah into camp that is going to be the best option. I should have some space in my day today. I will call the camp and get it set up. Hopefully, he will be able to start tomorrow. He seemed really excited about going to camp." said Callie as she finished dressing. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and walked out of the bedroom. She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of ginger ale and drank it down gratefully. She couldn't believe how sick she felt this morning. She was praying for the end of the first trimester. She seriously needed to be over this sickness if she was going to be able to keep up her surgery schedule.

Mark walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. "I can't believe we are actually doing this. I mean everything is starting to fall in place...we are like a real family. It is a very strange feeling but a good one don't get me wrong. You think you are going to be okay today?" He eyed Callie watching her chug down the ginger ale.

"You are right we are shaping up into a family. I had a fun time last night having dinner with the two of you. Oh don't say that! That is when something goes wrong...it is like Murphy's law...what can happen will happen." said Callie making a face as she poured herself another glass of ginger ale. She groaned softly and leaned against the counter. "I feel so sick Mark..." complained Callie looking over at him sort of sheepishly. She hated feeling this way. She felt so sick that she didn't feel like going into work that day and that definitely wasn't like her nothing was more important than her career.

He chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around her and said "Maybe it will be over soon and then you can just be concerned with having to pee more frequently than you'd like. It is a trade off of course." He smirked at her hoping to at least get a smile from her.

She laughed and said "You are not helping me by reminding me of the other unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy, my love. Okay I've got to get out of here. I have an early surgery. I will be sure to call the camp today and get the registration done for Noah." Callie finished drinking the ginger ale and put the glass in the sink.

Mark said "Callie you really need to eat something…I know you are feeling nauseous but you need to eat."

Callie smiled and said "Don't worry about me I am going to stop off on the way to work and get a horribly oversized banana nut muffin and some juice. That will hold me until lunch. Hopefully by then I won't feel so sick and I will actually be able to hold something down."

"Alright, I will see you at work." said Mark walking into the living room picking up her purse and car keys and handing them to her.

"Oh I was thinking you should let Noah take that portable DVD player with him to use in your office. It will give him something to do while he is stuck in your office. I'll see you at work." said Callie kissing him. She took her purse and keys from him and left the penthouse heading to work.

Mark went back into his bedroom and grabbed a shower and then dressed for the day. He looked at his watch and walked down to Noah's room. He knocked on the door. "Noah? Are you awake?' asked Mark from outside of door.

Noah opened the door already dressed for the day in a pair of dark denim jeans and a navy blue polo shirt. He gave a smile and said "Yeah. I woke up an hour ago. My stomach is growling." said Noah.

Mark laughed and said "After all of the pizza you put back last night? Come on we will pick up breakfast on the way to the hospital. For today you will have to hang out in my office all day. But by tomorrow you should be registered for the video game camp. Anyway, why don't you grab some DVDs and I will get the portable DVD player and you can watch some movies."

Noah smiled and said "Okay. Couldn't I just bring the laptop?" He walked into the bedroom and picked up the messenger bag that Mark had purchased for him. Noah put his Ipod, laptop, and a couple of DVDs into the bag.

"I didn't even think about the laptop." said Mark laughing. He said "I will give you your medicine after we pick up breakfast."

"Okay." said Noah leaving the penthouse with Mark.

Mark stopped at a local café and ordered breakfast for both of them. Afterward he drove them to the hospital. Mark for Noah settled in his office. "I know this isn't fun for you but it is only for today. If you need anything while I am in surgery just ask one of the nurses okay?"

Noah nodded and said "This isn't so bad. It is like being at home. I've got stuff to look at and a couch." He smiled not wanting his dad to feel too bad.

"Callie will probably stop in from time to time to check on you too." said Mark with a smile. He chuckled at how nonchalant Noah was about everything. This really was his kid. He got Noah settled with his breakfast and then left to get started on his day.

Callie's day went pretty much as planned. She had two really great surgeries and when she took her lunch break she left the hospital to register Noah for the gaming camp he was interested in. She grabbed lunch on her way back in and made it back before she was needed. As she was getting ready to head into the hospital her cell phone rang. She considered not answering it but she glanced at the caller ID and realized that it was her father, Carlos Torres, calling her. She groaned slightly. It wasn't that she didn't love her father it was that he never supported any of her decisions. She stared at the phone and hit ignore. She slipped it back into her purse. She got out of the car and headed into the hospital but her phone started ringing again. Callie groaned again and slipped into the locker room to change. She answered the phone trying not to sound annoyed. "Hi dad...how is everything? asked Callie as casually as she could manage.

"Calliope, we need to have a very serious conversation. I got a call today from your ex-husband George and he informed me that you are pregnant and living with some man that I haven't met yet. Please tell me that he is mistaken..." said Carlos waiting for his daughter's reply. "I think it is time for me to come to visit. I've already booked a flight. I'll be there tomorrow."

Callie's face turned pale and she didn't know what to say. More importantly she wanted to rip George limb from limb. She thought about how to answer her father and decided a copout was the best out at the moment. "I wish I could talk right now but I am swamped with work I am running late for a surgery but I will call you tonight and we can talk all about the new developments in my life. I'll talk to you then. Goodbye." Callie hung up before her father could interject and stop her escape. She stared at the phone and turned it off and put everything in her locker. She walked out of the room and headed to find Mark. She spotted him walking out of his office. "Do you have a minute?" asked Callie.

Mark saw how upset she was at the moment. "Sure…let's go to the on-call room." said Mark walking with her into the room. He closed the door behind them and asked "What's wrong Cal?"

"I just got a call from my dad. George called him and told him about you and I living together…and about me being pregnant. I don't think I've ever heard my father more furious at me." said Callie looking at Mark.

"That little son of a bitch." muttered Mark shaking his head. "Callie we had to tell your family at some point. Maybe it is a good thing that George told. What did you tell him?" asked Mark.

"I told him that I had to go and then I hung up. I didn't know what else to say I was shocked to say the least. I know that we can't keep everything a secret forever but I would have liked to tell my father on my terms…when I was ready. Now that my hand has been forced I don't know where to go from here. He is going to be angry that I didn't tell him first." said Callie. "He's going to be here tomorrow…he said he's already booked the flight…"

"You need to calm down first of all." said Mark taking her into his arms. "This seems bad but it really isn't." he stopped talking when he realized that she said her father would be there tomorrow. "Tomorrow?" Now it was Mark's time to get nervous.

Callie looked and said "Well, at least I am not freaking out on my own."


	15. Chapter 15

Later that night at home Mark sat in the kitchen at the island while Callie cooked dinner. Callie said "What are we going to do? He is going to be here tomorrow and he is expecting to stay here with us. We are just figuring out our life together I don't feel like explaining things to my father right now. Callie was upset because they hadn't really defined their relationship. This inconvenient visit was going to force them into a corner. She tried to hold back a sigh. She loved Mark and she knew what she wanted from their relationship but she didn't want to rush Mark and risk pushing him away. Callie checked on the chicken Parmesan in the oven. She said "I hope Noah will like dinner. I am making chicken parm with bow tie pasta and steamed veggies on the side."

"Well, what is there to explain Cal? We were dating after you divorced George and during that time I got you pregnant. I asked you to move into my penthouse with me because...I like waking up next to you. Although it was before I knew you were pregnant of course." said Mark getting up walking behind her and wrapping his arms around her. "And because you are an amazing and beautiful woman when my son showed up here needing a loving home you readily agreed. That is what you tell him. You are so good to me baby. You gave me a family." "I am sure that Noah will love dinner. Trust me the way he devoured breakfast this morning I don't think there is too much holding him back. I was the same way at his age."

"You are so sweet when you want to be Sloan...I will give you that. You know how to charm the hell out of me. That and I really like having sexy with you. But your explanation of the progression of our relationship isn't going to be enough for him. He is going to want to know...where this is going. What we are doing...questions that we don't even have answers to right now. That is the last thing we need. We are happy...we don't need outside pressure making things more difficult. Do you think that we could pretend like we aren't home?" asked Callie. She smiled and said "You are good to me too...you got me pregnant and you've given me a great step-son. You gave me a family too. Well, he is a growing boy you know. He needs the food."

Mark finally realized what had Callie so freaked out. "I can't tell you the future Cal. I know that you are worried. My track record doesn't exactly scream family man or fidelity...and even though you haven't brought it up I know that it must always be in the back of your mind. I don't know where this relationship is headed 30 years from now. But I know right now...you are the only woman that I want. Sure, I have been approached by a few nurses but I have turned them away because...I don't want to lose what I have here. Now that might not be a marriage proposal but..."

Callie cut him off and said "But that is enough for me. I know how much you love dirty random sex...the fact that you've been turning it down...that is enough of a commitment for me...for now. I will just have to get my father to understand that this is my life and...I will live it the way I chose. And I can't think of anything I would change about this situation. I've already rushed to get married one time and it turned out to be an absolute disaster. I will not make the same mistake again. If I ever get married again it will be because me and the man I am in love with couldn't imagine spending another day apart from one another. Who needs marriage anyway? It is just a piece of paper."

Mark turned her around so that she was looking at him. "You don't have to pretend that marriage isn't important to you...because I already know that it is Callie. You don't have to pretend with me...you never have...so don't start now. I am sorry I am not ready to run out and get married today. But what I do know...is that when the time is right...it will happen for us...and it will be m that you are marrying...I am not letting you get away from me." He kissed her tenderly holding her against him.

Noah had been in his bedroom but walked into the kitchen. He could smell the chicken parm all the way in his bedroom and he was definitely ready to eat dinner. He laughed seeing them kissing when he walked into the kitchen. He shook his head and said "Gross..." "I am hungry. Is dinner almost done?"

Mark moved back from the kiss and chuckled and said "I don't know...I think it might be. And the longer you think kissing is gross the better. That way we don't have to worry about girlfriends." He chuckled to himself remembering what he was like when he was Noah's age and knew the truth that he used to get into back then. but then he also didn't have very much supervision when he was Noah's age.

Noah laughed and said "Kissing isn't gross...watching your dad kiss his girlfriend open mouth is gross. I like girls a lot. Dinner smells really good Callie. I can't wait to eat. I am really hungry." Noah grabbed the cloth napkins and carried them to the table. He set them at their places at the table.

Callie laughed and said "Yes, dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes. Mark...why don't you and Noah set the table for dinner." She opened the cabinet and handed Mark a stack of plates. "Maybe you could...tell him about my dad coming to visit. I hate that this coming up right now. We are supposed to be getting to know Noah not worrying about my judgmental father. I think we will have him over for dinner tomorrow night and just get it out of the way quick and dirty. You know like pulling off a band aid."

"When I think of quick and dirty...a band aid isn't the first thing that comes to mind." said Mark with a grin. Mark grabbed the plates and silverware and walked over to the table and set the table with Noah. He said "Uh...so Callie's dad is coming tomorrow for a visit. He might be staying a few nights with us. We are going to have dinner with him tomorrow night. Uh...this is an important lesson for you to learn, son...sometimes not saying anything is as bad as lying...and we didn't tell Callie's dad that we were living together. So we are going to tell him tomorrow." Mark figured this was a good moment to teach his son a valuable lesson that he certainly never learned.

Noah said "Why didn't you tell her dad?" Noah helped set the table and had a seat once they had finished.

Mark said "Well, to be honest we were waiting for the right moment. But the point is that...you should always be honest with your parents. So if you ever have anything that you need to tell me...just tell me okay. I will always be here for you. Nothing you could tell me could change that."

"Okay...I will do that. But I don't have anything to tell you." said Noah confused by the entire conversation.

Mark laughed and said "Noah, I just...I don't have a lot of good things...that I can point to and say be like me. But...I do have a lot of bad things and some not so good things that I can point to and say don't be like me. I know it is a little confusing I am just letting you know that I want you to grow up to be a good man."

"Oh! Okay, dad I think I understand that." said Noah. But he was still a little confused. He thought Mark was a pretty good guy. He was much better than his step-father was so Noah was happy.

"Good, so are you excited about going to camp tomorrow? Callie thought it looked pretty cool when she stopped by there this afternoon to get you registered and everything. She thinks you are going to have a lot of fun there. I know you don't have any friends here yet but maybe you will meet some cool people at camp." said Mark looking over at Noah.

"Yeah it is weird being here when all of my friends are back home. But I've been emailing them. Takes a little longer since I can't use one of my arms. But it is cool being able to talk to them. I think I am going to miss them and my sisters the most." said Noah. He sighed a little.

"You know it is okay to miss your family and friends Noah. It is hard being away from the people we care about the most. But maybe we can go and visit your friends or something." Mark tried to think of a way to word the next statement. "We will have to wait awhile to visit your mom though..."

Noah shook his head. "I'd rather not visit my friends. It would be too weird to be there and not see my mom too." Noah looked down at the table not sure what else to say. He felt weird talking to Mark about his mom. "So uh...you are a doctor...what kinda doctor are you?" asked Noah. He hadn't really thought to ask before now and this was a good way to get the conversation off of him.

Mark hated seeing Noah in pain but didn't want push him into talking about something he wasn't ready to talk about. "I know that all of this is hard for you right now. And I know that you are just getting to know me but you can talk to me if you need to…and if you'd feel more comfortable…we could send you to someone else to talk to." Mark said "Well, actually I am a plastic surgeon."

"Mark dinner is ready. I need your help." said Callie from the kitchen. She transferred everything into serving dishes, before walking over to the fridge and getting something for everyone to drink for dinner.

Mark said "I will tell you more when I get back." he chuckled and got up. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the serving dishes. He carried them to the table and had a seat.

Callie walked in a few minutes later carrying drinks for everyone. She had a seat as well. "I hope you both enjoy dinner." said Callie with a smile. She got settled at the table. She waited until Noah served himself and then served herself as well. She passed the dish on to Mark.

"So before I went into the kitchen Noah asked me about what I do for a living." said Mark. "Like I started to tell you I am a plastic surgeon. I do a lot of different kinds of surgeries."

"What kind of surgeries? Like breast implants and stuff?" asked Noah as he ate dinner. "Wow, Callie this is really great." said Noah enthusiastically.

Callie smiled and said "Well, I am glad that you like it Noah. If you ever want something special for dinner just let me know ahead of time and I will try to make it for you."

Mark said "Noah is right Cal this is delicious. Thanks for making dinner for us." He turned his attention back to Noah. "Well, I do some breast implants but I do other things like facial reconstruction for people who have been in fires or accidents or have birth defects."

"Cool...do you like being a plastic surgeon?" asked Noah curiously.

"Sure, I always knew that I wanted to be a doctor and I became one. I enjoy my work a lot. It is hard work but it is good work." said Mark.

"What kinda doctor are you Callie?" asked Noah looking in her direction. "I know you operated on my arm and stuff." said Noah devouring his dinner but taking time to stop and ask Mark and Callie questions.

"I am an orthopedic surgeon. I do a lot of surgeries like the one i did for you. I operate on people with broken bones. Sometimes I have to break people's bones in order to make them better." said Callie.

"You break bones? Awesome! Cool...I don't know what I wanna be...there is a lot of cool stuff like doctors or lawyers or architects. I like a lot of different stuff." said Noah.

"Well, that is good. Architect huh? You know there are a lot of older beautiful homes here in Seattle. A lot of them are built in the craftsmen style...maybe we could go on an architecture tour if you are interested. You are still young this is the time to have a lot of dreams and interests. You get to see what you like the most. That is one thing we do have to talk about. We are going to have to see about getting you into a school before fall rolls around. We want you to start school on time."

Noah was shocked. "That would be really cool. I know a lot about Craftsmen style and all of that. Everything was made to look like natural so they used like a lot of wood stuff right and detailed and stuff?" "Is it hard to get me registered for school? I thought it was just like paperwork and stuff."

Mark was impressed and said "You are very right. That was sort of the hallmark of that style. I think we'd have a lot of fun kiddo. Well, it isn't hard if we are just going to send you to a public school. But Callie and I were thinking that maybe getting you into one of the private schools might be better. I know it might be a drag to wear a uniform but there are a lot of good private schools in the area that have all of the programs and activities that I want available to you even if you don't participate in all of them."

Noah laughed and said "No one says drag anymore…." He shrugged and said "I don't care if I have to wear a uniform. What kinda schools are around?"

Callie said "Well, we were thinking that the three of us could research them together and figure out which schools we like the best. There is usually an interview process. But your grades are good so we don't think there will be any problems."

Noah nodded and said "Okay that sounds cool." He didn't really have a preference about where he went to school. Either way he'd have to go to a new school and make new friends. "So dad said that you are pregnant?" asked Noah.

Callie nodded and said "Yes, I am 3 months pregnant with twins."

Mark looked over at his son wondering how he felt about that particular information.

Noah seemed unfazed by the news. "Boys are girls?" asked Noah curiously.

Callie smiled and said "I don't know yet. I won't know for a couple more weeks."

They finished the rest of the dinner chatting about schools and types of extracurricular activities he was interested in. After dinner Mark and Noah hung out watching a movie while Callie turned in for bed early.

Mark came into the bedroom around 11:30 and saw that Callie was fast asleep. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed with Callie. He took off his watch and set it on the nightstand before setting his alarm clock.

Callie shifted and opened her eyes looking at him. "Mmm what time is it? Did you remember to give Noah his medicine?"

"It is 11:30 go back to sleep Cal. Yes, I remembered to give him his medicine." said Mar kissing her and then wrapping his arms around her. He closed his eyes tiredly. He could only imagine what the next day would bring them.


	16. Chapter 16

The next evening Callie walked over to Mark looking tired. She said "My shift is over and now I am going to go home. But first I will stop off and pick up Noah and then go to the grocery store. I need to pick up groceries for dinner. He is going to be expecting something special. The only good news is that he checked into a hotel so at least he isn't intending to stay with us during his visit."

Mark shook his head and said "I have dinner covered. I called a place this afternoon and ordered up a spread for appetizers, dinner, and dessert. I will pick everything up on my way home. And I brought a suit to work with me so I will shower here and get dressed. I have everything under control. All I want you to do is go home and relax." Mark lightly rubbed her stomach not caring if anyone saw.

Callie let out a small sigh of relief. "Mark….you are amazing. Thank you for thinking of everything. I just want this dinner with my dad to go well. He can be so critical sometimes. I just…I don't want to give him any additional ammo to use in this situation." She smiled feeling his hand on her stomach. "Why…McSteamy you are caressing me in a non-sexual way…what will everyone say?" asked Callie laughing.

"Just don't let him stress you out. No matter how the situation plays out, nothing is going to change for you and me. This is the life that we are living whether he is on board with it or not. What is the worst that he can do? Cut you off financially? Do you really need the money anyway?" asked Mark

Callie smiled softly and said "No, you are right. My father just invokes a certain level of anxiety in me. But you are right…I am an adult. I can live my life anyway I chose and there are no real consequences for disappointing him. And if he chooses to cut me out of his life…he is the one that will be missing out not me."

He smirked and said "There is the Torres I know and love. Bone breaker." He kissed her and said "I will see you at home in a couple of hours. I will even stop off and pick up some wine for the evening. Maybe if we liquor up your father he will be nicer."

Callie laughed. "Alright I will see you later." She kissed him and then grabbed her bag. She left the hospital and headed to pick up Noah. She parked and walked over to the building. Callie headed inside and smiled seeing Noah waiting.

Noah got up and walked over to Callie. "Hi Callie." said Noah with a smile. He put his bag over his shoulder and pulled Callie out of the building.

"So can I assume that you enjoyed yourself today…or at least didn't absolutely hate it?" asked Callie chuckling to herself as they walked to the car. She unlocked the car door and took Noah's bag for him and let him get into the car. She put the bag in the backseat and then walked around to the driver's side of the car and climbed in putting on her seat belt.

Once Noah was settled in the car and wearing his seatbelt he said "I had a lot of fun today. They taught us a lot about video game programming. I met some really cool people too."

"That is great Noah. Your dad and I really want you to have a good time. How has your arm been feeling today?" asked Callie as she drove them home. She was glad to see that he was doing well.

"It hurts some but it isn't really bad. I just hate not being able to use my other arm. It makes everything more difficult. It makes me feel really stupid for getting hit by the car. I wasn't really paying attention and I just sort of darted out into traffic when I saw the hospital." said Noah thinking back to his first day in Seattle.

"Well, I can understand why you would be so excited to get to the hospital to see your dad for the first time. You were very brave making the trip on your own to begin with. But perhaps from now on you should be a little more careful crossing the street we wouldn't want anything to happen to you." said Callie sincerely.

Noah shrugged and said "it isn't as if anyone would have missed me if I would have died that day. My mom would have been rid of me either way. Then the two of you wouldn't be stuck with me." He hadn't really let he guard down since being there with them and this was sort of the first glance into him.

Callie didn't know if she was overstepping her boundaries, she would have to talk to Mark about what those were later. But she felt like she had to speak out at that moment. "That isn't true at all Noah. You are a smart, funny, bright, sweet young man. And I feel grateful to be able to get to know you. I am glad that you came here to Seattle to find Mark. I am happy that you are part of our family. I don't feel like we are stuck with you and I know your dad doesn't feel that way either. I know our little family might not be the conventional sort…but you made it even better. You have my word on that. I know that I am just your dad's girlfriend but I care about you."

Noah was embarrassed by what he said. He was a very private person and he didn't like talking about his emotions. He looked at Callie skeptical. He didn't know whether to believe her or not. "You like me now…but…when you have to live with me…you'll see…especially after you have your babies. It'll be just like my mom and Robert. Once you have your own kids…then I won't fit in here either."

Callie pulled into the parking garage for their penthouse and parked in one of their parking spaces. She looked at him and said "Noah, I am very sorry that you have been treated so poorly. No one deserves that…least of all you. You are right things will change once I have the babies. But that doesn't mean the way we feel about you will change. You are always going to be important to Mark. And you are always going to be important to me too. That is the good thing about families. They grow and change but the bond and the love…stays the same. I think this is a conversation we should have with your father."

Noah shook his head and said "No, please… I didn't mean to be mean or cause trouble…." He thought that she wanted to involve Mark in the talk because she was angry or upset.

Callie said "Sweetheart you haven't caused trouble at all. I just think that Mark would like to be able to express how he feels about you himself. Your dad loves you and he did the moment he found out you were his son. You are his firstborn son. A fellow Yankees fan…you both love architecture. You are always going to hold a special place in his heart…and I think he'd want to tell you that himself." Callie got out of the car and waited on Noah before the two of the headed into the elevator. She was worried about Noah. He had been through so much. She didn't want anything they did or said to make things any worse for him.

Meanwhile…

Mark was finishing his shift at the hospital. He grabbed a quick shower and changed into a slate grey suit with a black button up shirt. He was walking out to his car when he spotted George O'Malley. He walked over to him and said "I'd like to thank you."

George was startled hearing Marl's voice coming from behind him. He turned around and looked at the surgeon with curious if not suspicious eyes. "What do you mean?" asked George.

"I want to thank you for calling Callie's father and telling him about everything going on in our life together. It really made the two of us stand up and realize that we needed to come clean with him. He is coming over to dinner for tonight." He smiled and said "So thank you…you sniveling coward. I am glad that you decided to tell him for us."

"I…I was just…you are no good for her. You are going to break her heart. I cheated on her with a friend…a friend that I love dearly. But you…you will screw around on her with every woman that comes your way. You are going to break her heart…and then what? You should do the both of you a favor and it while you still have a chance." said George.

Mark smiled at George slightly amused by the situation. "You do realize…that even if Callie was to decide sometime in the future that she did not want to be with me any longer…she still wouldn't want to be with you. You've lost your chance to be with Callie. It is never going to happen. No matter how much negativity you push in our direction. It kills you that she is happy and that you are not. I've been where you are before…and it is not the place to be. I am going to give you some free advice…move on with your life and leave my family alone. Because the next time you interfere in our lives…I will not be as amused and I will make your life inside and outside of this hospital a hell that you will never wake up from." Mark patted George on the shoulder. "You have good night O'Malley." Mark strolled over to his own car and unlocked it. He tossed one last glance at George before climbing into his car and driving off. Mark stopped at a wine store to pick up a couple of bottles of wine first and then stopped off to pick up their meal for the evening. He finally made it home about 20 minutes before Carlos Torres was due to arrive for dinner. Mark tried to balance everything as he attempted to open the door.

Noah was sitting on the couch watching television. He was already dressed for dinner. He was wearing a pair of dark slacks and a black button up, long sleeve shirt. Noah heard the noise outside of the door. Noah walked to the door and asked "Dad is that you?" He peeked out of the peephole and opened the door for Mark.

Mark smiled and said "Thank you Noah." Mark carried everything into the penthouse. "Can you close the door for me?" Mark walked into the kitchen setting all of the bags onto the counter. He started taking out containers. He was glad to see they were all labeled. He turned on the oven figuring he'd need to keep the dishes warm until Carlos arrived.

"Sure I can do that." said Noah closing the door and locking it behind Mark. "Whatever you picked up smells really great." said Noah walking into the kitchen with Mark. "Do you need me to do anything?" asked Noah.

"Where is Callie?" asked Mark. He ruffled Noah's hair and smiled. "You look good kid. Are your clothes okay do we need to pick up anything else for you?" asked Mark. He had forgotten to ask that question before now.

Noah said "Callie said she was going to lie down for 30 minutes and then she'd be back out. Well, I could use some more shorts and t-shirts. But other than that everything else you guys bought for me is great."

Mark chuckled and said "I forgot about the shirts and t-shirt thing…it is the summer. We can go shopping soon and pick up whatever you need. Did you enjoy your first day of camp?" asked Mark getting out serving dishes and setting them on the counter. He popped the foil food containers into the oven to stay warm.

"I had a good time. I learned a lot and I made a couple of friends. A couple of people wanted to sign my cast even though they don't really know me yet." said Noah laughing.

Mark chuckled and said "Well, it is good to know that casts are still cool. They were when I was in high school. It was like the best thing next to a yearbook." Mark collected the dishes and silverware. "Do you feel up to helping me set the table?" asked Mark.

Noah nodded and said "Sure." He walked with Mark over to the table and helped him set the places at the table. Noah stood there a moment after they finished setting the table. He knew that he needed to tell Mark about the conversation in the car before Callie did. He still wasn't convinced that she wasn't upset. Noah said "I think…I made Callie upset earlier in the car…and….I am really sorry. It won't happen again…just…please don't make me leave…I like it here." Noah turned and walked out of the room and went to his bedroom closing the door.

Mark was stunned by the sudden exit. "Noah…?" asked Mark calling after him. He didn't know what to think about that. He walked to the room he shared to Callie and opened the door quietly slipping into the room wondering if she was awake or not.

Callie was walking out of the bathroom wearing a black, fitted, sleeveless dress. "I was wondering when you were going to make it home. We need to have a talk about Noah." said Callie having a seat on the bench at the bottom of their bed.

Mark had a seat next to her and said "yeah, I got that feeling when he asked me not to make him leave…what happened? I want to talk to him before your dad gets home but I wanted to know what was going on first so I am into walking into the conversation blind."

"We were driving home and essentially…he feels like we just got stuck with him and that at some point after I give birth that…we aren't going to want him anymore because apparently that is how things worked out with Diana and Robert. Robert was great to him Diana gave him children of his own. I tried to reassure him…especially when he said no one would card if he was dead…he is just a hurt little boy…he needs to know that he is loved." said Callie. Callie filled him in on the rest of the conversation.

Mark shook his head and said "I am going to go and talk with him...do you want to come along?" He sighed thinking about all of the pain and disappointment that his son had endured. He knew they were only uncovering the tip of the iceberg and there was more to come.

Callie said "I would like to if that is okay with you. I just want him to know that I am not angry with him. I want him to know that this is his home…we aren't just going to…send him away….that isn't the way family works."

Mark nodded and said "Alright then let's go." He stood up and took Callie's hand and they walked down the hall to Noah's room. Mark knocked on the door. "Noah…could we come in please?"

Noah was lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling. He said "Yeah. Come in."

Mark opened the door and walked into Noah's room. He pulled the computer chair out for Callie and then had a seat in the other chair in the room. "Callie told me about the conversation the two of you had in the car tonight."

Noah sat up in the bed some and looked over at the two of them. "So you want me to leave?"

"Noah, I am not angry with you at all. In fact I am glad that you told me how you feel. It is important that you tell us things like this. I know you don't know either of us very well…but we are getting to know one another." said Callie.

"You are my son and I love you, Noah. I am sorry that…you've had so much pain in your life before now….that you had to experience pain and neglect from the people that were supposed to love you, take care of you, and keep you safe. I wish that I could change the past and take all of that away from you…but I can't. But what I can do is be here for you now. The day you showed up at Seattle Grace is undoubtedly one of the best days of my life. You showing up is giving me the opportunity to be a part of your life and that means a lot to me." said Mark.

"And you won't change how you feel about me once the babies are born?" asked Noah slowly starting to believe them.

"Of course not. You are still going to be my son. And you are at the fun age where I can do all sorts of great things like take you to ball games and concerts. Hang out with you…hell we can even break out some board games. You are my son…nothing is ever going to change that." said Mark.

"And believe it or not I feel the same way Noah. You are such a great kid and you are so sweet and funny. You've made our family complete. And I love your dad so much. And when you love someone as much as I love your father…you love everything about them… every part of them. And you…are a very big piece of your father. How could I not love you?" asked Callie with a smile.

Mark said "You never have to worry about us sending you away for any reason. And anytime that you need to tell us something…you do it and we will find a way to work it out together…as a family okay?"

Noah nodded and gave a genuine smile. "Okay…" Noah got up from the bed and hugged Mark and then hugged Callie. "Is it almost time for dinner?"

Mark laughed and said "Yes, it is almost time for dinner. We can wait in the living room for Mr. Torres to show up."

Callie said "Well, you picked up appetizers. We can start on those while we wait on him. He should have been on time for dinner." She smiled and walked into the living room with the two of them. She headed into the kitchen and with Mark's help started loading the food into the serving dishes that Mark had gotten out when he first got him.

Noah ate a couple of appetizers watching them.

Just then the doorbell rang.

Mark said "I will finish with the food. You go and answer the door." He kissed her lips.

Callie smiled and said "Okay…" She took a deep breath and walked to the door. She peered out the peephole and before unlocking the door and opening. "Hi dad…welcome." said Callie with a smile. She exuded confidence but she was nervous on the inside.


	17. Chapter 17

Carlos Torres stood there a moment looking at his daughter. "Calliope it has been too long since I have last seen you. You have to try to come home more often." said Carlos. He walked into the penthouse and said "So why haven't you told me that you needed me. Why did I have to hear such important news from your ex-husband? A man that I do not like to begin with? Calliope what have you gotten yourself into now...?" Carlos looked at her with disappointed eyes. He had been incredibly disappointed with her when she married George and now it was just worse.

"I was going to tell you when the time was right. Mark and I are just getting settled in here with his son Noah. We only found out about my pregnancy very recently. We were not yet ready to tell our families about the changes in our lives." said Callie remaining firm. "But I don't want to talk about that right now. Dinner is ready...you are welcome to stay and have dinner with us. I'd really like for you to meet Mark and Noah." said Callie. Callie offered a hopeful smile.

"I am your father...you should be able to tell me anything and everything. There should be no secrets between family members and you used to know that." said Carlos. "You are bringing shame to this family yet again. Pregnant and unmarried...living with a man you aren't married to. Are you trying to disappoint me or are you really that incompetent?" said Carlos scolding her as if she was a small child.

Mark had been in the kitchen trying not to interfere but Mark had heard enough and walked into the room. "Mr. Torres it is nice to see you. I am Mark Sloan. I am Callie's boyfriend and the father of her twins. I'd appreciate you not getting her upset with your nonsense." Mark put a supportive hand on the small of Callie's back. He was trying to contain his anger because this was Callie's father.

"Mark..." said Callie not wanting this to turn into a full blow argument. She could see the fire in Mark's eyes.

"This is a family matter and it has absolutely nothing to do with you!" said Carlos Torres feeling his anger start to boil over.

"Well, that is where you are wrong because we are a family...it is you that isn't part of this family and if you can't find a way to be civil with Callie and get on board with what is going on here I will be forced to make you leave...by whatever means necessary." said Mark.

Carlos stared between the two of them and said "Calliope I will talk to you when he isn't around. I will be in town for two days. I expect to see you at my hotel sometime before I leave Seattle. I am staying in room 3940 at the Four Seasons." He turned and walked out of the penthouse slamming the door closed behind him.

"I'll be back in a minute." said Callie. She ran to the bedroom closing the door behind her and then ran straight into their bathroom getting sick.

Mark followed Callie into the bathroom. "Cal…" Mark stood back giving her some space. He sighed knowing his ultimatum had pushed Carlos out of the door but he didn't want anyone hurting Callie not even her father.

Callie kneeled on the floor throwing up until her stomach was empty. She reached up and flushed the toilet and slowly pulled herself up from the floor. She put the lid down on the toilet and had a seat trying to catch her breath.

Mark got a cool washcloth for her head because at the moment she looked flushed. "I am sorry baby." said Mark in a remorseful voice.

"You don't have to apologize…I am glad that you were there to back me up. I knew that he was angry but I was hoping that he wouldn't be so…who am I kidding…deep down I knew this was how he was going to react. I just wanted it to be different I just wanted him to be happy for me…just once in life. I guess that is too much to ask for. I try so hard but he is never happy for me…never proud…I am a disappointment." said Callie. Callie got up and walked over to the sink brushing her teeth and rinsing her mouth out. She took a couple of breaths trying to settle her nerves.

"Are you going to see him before he leaves Seattle?" asked Mark looking at her. He lightly rubbed her back looking at her in the mirror. He could see the pain on her face and knew how much the encounter had hurt her. Callie was a strong woman but on the inside she was a heartbroken little girl that just wanted her father to love her.

Callie took a breath and then shook her head no. "I don't feel like arguing about the validity of my choices. I am pregnant and I am with you the facts of my story aren't going to change and I don't see my father having a miraculous change of heart…going to his hotel would just mean subjecting myself to another one of his tirades…I need that like I need a hole in the head."

Mark kissed the back of her head and said "I know this is hard for you Callie…and I am sorry that you are losing your father because of me…" Mark couldn't help but feel guilty he knew how much Callie loved her family and she was effectively making herself the black sheep.

Callie turned around so that she was facing Mark. She looked into his steely blue eyes and offered a tired smile. "It is like you said…we have a family of our own here…and if he'd like to be a part of that great….if not…I am not going to lose any sleep. I love you Mark and I wouldn't want to be with anyone else. And if he can't accept that…then I never have to see him again." She smiled at him and said "Come on…I am sure Noah is starving if he hasn't already started eating."

Mark kissed the top of her head. "I love you too Cal." He smiled at her but he could tell that she was still hurting. He wrapped an arm around her waist and the two of them walked to the dining room together. Mark chuckled looking at Noah at the table eating the appetizers.

Noah looked up and said "Hey! I tried to wait on you guys but I got really hungry." "Are you okay Callie?" asked Noah.

Callie laughed and said "That is okay. That is what appetizers are for." Callie had a seat at the table and smiled over at him. "Yes, I am okay. Thank you for asking Noah."

Mark had a seat at the table once Callie was seated and the three of them had a quiet family meal together. After dinner Mark said "I am going to take care of the dishes. Why don't the two of you go pick out a movie for all of us to watch?"

Noah said "Okay dad." Noah got up from the table and went into the living room and looked through the DVDs.

Callie said "Mark, let me help you clean all of this up."

Mark chuckled and said "I think I can handle it. You've had a long day. Go and stretch out on the couch and I will be there soon." Mark kissed her and then cleared the table.

Callie smiled and chuckled. "Okay but you are only getting away with bossing me around because I am already tired Sloan." Callie got up from the table and went into the living room kicking off her high heel shoes. She curled up on the couch pulling a chenille throw blanket over her. "What did you pick Noah?" asked Callie yawning a little.

Noah said "Is it okay if we watch Scarface? I really like this movie." Noah held up the movie.

Callie laughed and said "Uh…I don't know if you are the right age for that movie…there is a lot of violence and stuff. Why don't we pick something a little less violent? How about the Godfather? Or we could watch the Untouchables?"

Noah said "Okay!" he searched through the movies for The Godfather and put it in. he got up and went over to the chaise lounge and laid on it. "I like this movie a lot too. My favorite part is the horse head part."

Callie laughed and said "My favorite part is the uh…hospital scene where Michael saves his father from the guys."

Noah said "That was a really cool part. Did hospitals really look like that back then? It looked more like a prison."

Callie chuckled and said "Well, I am not nearly that old but yeah they did look like that. I hadn't thought about it but you are right…it did sort of look like a prison."

Noah said "Dad? Can we start the movie without you?" Noah looked back toward the kitchen.

Mark laughed and said yelled. "Yes! Start it without me."

Noah smiled and said "Cool!" He pushed play on the remote and relaxed as the movie got ready to start.

Mark walked into the room a few minutes later and had a seat on the couch with Callie. He pulled her feet onto his lap and massaged them for her as he watched the movie. He chuckled and asked "Godfather?"

She chuckled and said "Don't look at me. Noah wanted to watch Scarface…this was a compromise." She sighed happily and said "That feels good Sloan...my feet are killing me." She wiggled her toes at him and relaxed watching the movie. She tried putting her father out of her mind for the moment she just wanted to enjoy time with her family. Her hand unconsciously rested on her stomach protectively.

About an hour later the movie was still playing but Mark looked over and saw that Callie was asleep. He chuckled softly and said "I can't believe she fell asleep." When Noah didn't respond he looked over at his son and laughed seeing that he was asleep as well. Mark chuckled and got up gingerly so that he didn't wake up Callie. He grabbed a blanket and put it over Noah. Mark quietly picked up his car keys and wallet and walked out of the penthouse locking the door behind him. Mark was a man on a mission and he wouldn't be deterred. Mark drove over to the Four Seasons and then headed inside and up to Carlos Torres room. Mark knocked on the door.

Carlos opened the door and scoffed. "I was expecting room service. What do you want? Where is Calliope?"

"Callie is at home getting some rest which is what she is supposed to be doing…but you and I need to talk. We need to get a few things straight." said Mark walking into Carlos' suite and having a seat in a chair.

Carlos stood at the door dumbfounded by Mark's rudeness. He closed the door and walked into the room. "What do you want?" asked Carlos harshly.

"I want you to stop acting like a son of a bitch. Your daughter loves you and all she wants is for you is to love her in return. You broke her heart the way you acted tonight but she is too stubborn to ever tell you that herself so that is why I am here right now. She doesn't know that I am here because she fell asleep because she's exhausted. Working, being pregnant, and helping me take care of my son Noah wears her out but she does a damn good job with everything that she does." said Mark.

"I am still not understanding what it is that you want. Calliope makes a fool of herself time and time again. Getting into one bad relationship after the next. We raised her to be a good Catholic girl with principles and respect…and here she is living in sin with a man that got her pregnant out of wedlock. Tell me…how am I supposed to take that? What would you do if it was your daughter?" asked Carlos angrily.

"I would like to think that I would care more about how my daughter feels. You say Callie makes bad relationship choices but do you ever wonder why? She is always searching for love and approval because she has never gotten it from you." said Mark. He was passionate about this not just because he saw how much Callie was hurting but also because he had been in the position of not being loved by his parents. "She married George looking for love even though she saw the signs that he was an immature putz. I love your daughter that should be enough."

"How dare you? You don't know anything about my relationship with my daughter! You don't know anything about me!" yelled Carlos feeling furious partly because he knew that to a certain extent Mark was right.

"I don't know what I am talking about?" asked Mark incredulously. "I've been with your daughter for months and not once has she spoken to you. You haven't called her and she hasn't called you. You tell me what I am missing in this equation. What I am telling you is that if you don't' come around you are going to lose your daughter and your grandchildren because Callie is too stubborn to let this go. Is it really worth it to you to be judgmental…to put her down? You don't have to agree with her choices…just let her know that you love her anyway." said Mark. "But you know what…don't take my advice…lose your daughter…because she will cut you out of her life Mr. Torres." said Mark standing up. He handed Carlos a copy of the sonogram photo. "You can be stubborn if you like…but this is what you are giving up." said Mark heading for the door.

Carlos looked at the sonogram. Carlos said "How can I respect her choices when they are foolish? She is like a child playing house with you…but you aren't married to her…what is she going to do if you decide that you no longer want to play house with her? I am worried for my daughter. How many times does she have to get her heart broken before she starts making better choices?"

Mark stopped when Carlos spoke. He turned back and looked at him. "All due respect Mr. Torres…marriage is hardly a guarantee. People get divorced every day. Men cheat on their wives and leave them. Women cheat on their husbands and leave them. A piece of paper does not equal forever and it doesn't guarantee a good relationship either. Callie and I are together because we want to be…because we love each other. I am with your daughter because I am a better person for having her in my life. I wake up every morning knowing that I am lucky to have her asleep next to me. I knew that I wanted to be with her before I even knew that she was pregnant and that didn't change after I knew. I am going to love your daughter and I am going to love our children. And we may or may not get married but at the end of the day we will be happy and our kids will be happy and that is all that matters to me."

Carlos softened somewhat hearing the depth of Mark's emotions for his daughter. "Tradition…is very important to me and…Calliope keeps making these big decisions without me and I just…I don't know how to be there for my daughter without taking over and guiding her in the right directions. My culture and my religion both mean a lot to me. I want her to get married and have all of the good things in life. A marriage recognized by God and his church. Do you intend to just live with my daughter for the rest of her life or do you intend to marry her at some point?"

Mark said "I guess I don't understand that because I've never really been devoted to any sort of traditions or a religion…but I can see that you truly are passionate about it. I can't predict the future but I do love Callie and I think that at some point I'd like to make an honest woman of her. But it has to be on our terms…not because her father is going to abandon her if we don't get married. And you know Callie as well as I do…if you try to force her to go left she will go right. Your daughter loves you…don't make her choose…because you will lose." Mark walked out of the hotel room and drove himself back home.

Mark walked into the penthouse locking the door behind him. He set his wallet and keys down and saw that Callie was sitting up on the couch looking worried.

"Mark…where were you?" asked Callie. "I called your cell phone…you left it here." said Callie. She got up from the couch.

Mark said "I am sorry I forgot all about my cell phone. I didn't mean to make you worry baby. Have a seat Cal…" He walked over to her and took her hands. "Where is Noah?" asked Mark.

"He woke up and went to bed…I remembered to give him his medicine first….but where were you." asked Callie again. Her eyes searched his wanting to know if he was about to tell her the truth or a lie. She had a seat on the couch.

"I…went over to your father's hotel to talk to him. I tried talking some sense into him…I don't know how well it worked…but I had to try. I don't like how badly you were hurting tonight…even if you did try to pretend like you were okay. I just...it is my job to protect you Cal." said Mark looking into her eyes. He brushed her hair away from her eyes.

Callie's eyes softened and she hugged him. "I love you for trying Mark…I should be angry at you for meddling but for some reason…it just makes me love you more. I am glad that I have you to protect me and to love me."

"Always Cal…always." said Mark.


	18. Chapter 18

It seemed to Callie that the further along she got in her pregnancy the more that she became anxious and ultimately afraid of what was to come. Callie was having some serious doubts about her ability to care for two newborn infants. Callie's anxiety worsened with each week she marked off of her calendar. Callie was currently seven months pregnant and miserable. But on the bright side her relationship with Mark was great and they had both adjusted to Noah living with them. Noah was enjoying his new school. He was attending a local Catholic school, St. Leo.

Callie laid on the examination table waiting for Mark to show up to her appointment. She glanced at her watch and sighed. She was starting to think that Mark wouldn't make it in time. She had stalled Marisol for as long as she could. Callie looked up when the door opened.

Marisol walked into the room. "Any word from Mark?" Marisol was being patient. She knew how much Callie wanted Mark there and truth be told Marisol could just reschedule them for another day but Callie was insistent on being seen today.

"I am sorry for taking up so much of your time Marisol. I got a call from one of the nurses at the hospital...Mark is still in surgery. It is running longer than he expected. That was 40 minutes ago. He was supposed to call me when he got out of surgery...but I don't think we can wait any longer...I'll just have to tell him how my appointment went." said Callie a little disappointed. For weeks they had been trying to decide whether they wanted to know the sex of their twins. Last night in bed Mark and Callie had finally decided to find out the sex of the babies.

Marisol said "Are you sure about this? We could always just reschedule for tomorrow? I know that you really wanted Mark here for this appointment..." Marisol had a seat on a stool next to the examination table. "How are you feeling anyway?" asked Marisol.

Callie said "No...I don't want to reschedule. I am too anxious not to find out today." Callie said "Mark will understand about me finding out without him. I am starting to feel tired all of the time. It is like I never get enough sleep. I usually end up falling asleep in the living room after dinner. Carrying my workload at the hospital is getting harder and that is with the Chief cutting back on my hours. Mark wants me to consider going on leave early...he's really worried about me and the babies. But if I have to be at home all of the time...by myself...I will go bonkers and I will not be a pleasant fat pregnant woman."

Marisol laughed and said "Certainly you've got a million things to do at home that would keep you occupied in the interim..? I mean the last time I came over to visit the room that is supposed to serve as a nursery still looks like a guest room...and you haven't done any shopping for the babies right?" Marisol was in agreement with Mark, Callie definitely needed to take some time off of work her body really couldn't handle the paces she was putting it through trying to maintain her schedule at work.

Callie made a face at her. "You've been talking to Mark! The two of you would love to see me in my bed all day long in my pajamas eating bon bons or something! But...you are right there is a lot for me to do...in a very short amount of time. But as soon as we know the sexes of the babies I can finalize my ideas for the nursery and I can get the interior decorator started on it. Although it doesn't matter straight away anyway. I want the babies to sleep in the room with Mark and me for at least the first three months."

Marisol quirked and eyebrow at Callie and asked "Have you talked to Mark about this?" he chuckled thinking about Mark waking up in the middle of the night to crying babies in his bedroom.

"No...I haven't talked to him about it but I don't see how it really matters. I don't intend to have sex with him for awhile...a very long while. Long enough for both of us to remember to be more careful next time." said Callie laughing a little. "Don't get me wrong I am happy to be pregnant and I am excited about being a mom...but I feel like I am the only one dealing with the negative stuff. I always feel tired and sick. I get light headed a lot of the time now. And I have mood swings that make me want to strangle Mark one moment and have sex with him the next moment. And I get sick whenever I eat anything….this pregnancy has not been very easy on me." said Callie sadly.

"I think all mothers feel that way in some ways. I think it is magnified for you because you and Mark are both doctors at the same hospital. So you see him going about his day without any of the impediments that you have to deal with." said Marisol.

"Exactly!" said Callie glad that someone understood where she was coming from on the situation. "Mark is really excited about the babies though so that makes it a little better. I just wish he understood how hard this pregnancy has been on me. But if I tell him about any of it his solution is for me to take maternity leave. And that is no solution at all. He doesn't know how it feels to not be able to do what you love."

Marisol nodded and said "Have you tried to talk to Mark about how you are feeling?"

Callie shook her head and said "No...I don't want him to get the wrong idea and I don't want him to start feeling guilty. Besides things have been good at home. Mark and Noah are really bonding with one another. Noah and I have really bonded as well. Mark and I are taking Noah to see a Yankees/Dodgers game next week. He's really excited about it and I have to say so am I. Mark snagged really great seats. We figured we should take Noah now because I won't be able to travel much after this."

"Well, that is great that the three of you are really getting along You are a great step-mother Callie. You and Mark really seem to have everything going pretty well." said Marisol getting the machine set up to do Callie's ultrasound.

"Oh please...Noah makes it easy to be a good step-mother. He's an easy going kid. Our biggest problem is that his friends like to hang out at the penthouse...which means sometimes there are seven to ten kids hanging out. Mark is really thinking about finding an actual house..." said Callie.

Marisol laughed and asked "Mark with a house? The nurses at the hospital will faint!" Marisol said "Okay you know the drill Callie...this will be cold." Marisol put the gel on Callie's stomach.

Callie chuckled and said "Yeah that is what I said...but he made a good point. We have Noah and the babies will be born soon. The penthouse is spacious but it isn't really the traditional family home. Noah doesn't seem to mind living in the penthouse though so we haven't really decided anything." Callie gasped a little when the gel hit her stomach. "Noah thinks living in the penthouse is...and I quote swaggy! Whatever in the hell that means."

As Marisol was about to get started the door opened and Mark walked into the room looking like he was out of breath. "Did I miss it?" asked Mark holding onto the doorknob like he might pass out from the running that he did to get there.

Callie chuckled at him but smiled brightly seeing that he had indeed made it there in enough time. "No we were just getting starting...I was getting worried." She smiled at him and laid her head back feeling more relaxed knowing that Mark would indeed be there for their big moment.

Mark smiled and said "I am sorry Cal. The surgery went over more than I expected but it was a success and as soon as it was over I scrubbed out and rushed over here." He walked over to her and placed a soft kiss on her lips before taking her hand. He smiled and said "Uh hi Marisol..." He chuckled at himself he had forgotten all about Marisol even being in the room.

"Hello to you too Mark." said Marisol laughing. "Now that everyone is present and accounted for we can get started." said Marisol She got started and said "Both babies appear to be on target for their current gestation. Baby A is a boy and Baby B is a boy. Congratulations!" Marisol paused staring at the screen intently.

Mark smiled and said "Two boys...?" He chuckled happily and asked Callie. "How do you feel about living in a house full of boys?" Mark was too busy looking at Callie to see Marisol's perplexed look.

Callie laughed and said "I like it just fine. Two boys...I can't wait to get the nursery finished...we are definitely going with maritime theme! And Noah is going to be so excited...he won the bet! We are having boys."

"As long as I can slip in some Yankees memorabilia." said Mark with a smirk. He chuckled and said "yeah, I know he won the bet. I owe my kid 100 bucks."

Marisol said "I am sorry...I don't mean to butt into your celebration but...I've spotted an anomaly on the screen." Marisol motioned to a spot off to the side of baby A. You know the last time you were in here I thought it was just a shadow...but if you look right here...it appears that there is a third baby...right there. It is unusual to be at" Marisol motioned to the area drawing their attention to it.

Mark stared at the screen dumbfounded. "What...uh...a third baby..." Mark moved closer to the screen so that he could get a better look at what was going on.

Marisol said "It appears so...you know as well that I do that at times in multiples babies can be hidden behind one another. Triplets occur naturally a lot less frequently than twins. Triplets happen about 1 in every 10,000 births."

"Triplets." murmured Callie trying to wrap her mind around the idea of having three babies. It also made her worry if all three babies would be healthy.

The rest of the appointment finished in an almost dream like sequence for Mark and Callie. Afterward they drove home separately. Callie made it home first because Mark stopped off to pick up take out for dinner. Callie went into the bedroom and changed into a pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top that stretched over her rounded stomach. Callie curled up on the couch waiting on Mark to come home. Callie played the appointment over in her head. The appointment had gone on for much longer than they had anticipated. Callie's blood pressure was through the roof and that added with carrying three babies meant that Callie was now on bed rest until further notice.

Mark walked into the penthouse 30 minutes later carrying take out from their favorite restaurant. Mark walked over to the couch and kissed her cheek. "How are you feeling Cal?" asked Mark setting the food containers on the table. He walked into the kitchen grabbing silverware and bottles of water for both of them. He returned having a seat next to Callie on the couch.

Callie waited until Mark was settled and sighed. "I am scared…really scared. Marisol wants to deliver the babies this week…at 30 weeks there is significant risk involved…if anything were to happen…." Callie shook her head. She couldn't even finish the rest of that statement. "When Marisol put me on bed rest I wanted to scream but I know that it is for the best at the moment. I can't believe that I have preeclampsia and we didn't know it…I called Chief Webber while you were getting dinner. I let him know what was going on…so he is putting me on leave effective tonight."

"I like Marisol a lot…I think she is a great doctor. But I think that if we are going to have to deliver the babies early…that I'd like Addison to be involved. I trust her to give you and the babies the best care there is." said Mark looking at Callie.

Callie nodded in agreement. "I couldn't agree with you more Mark. I love Marisol but I think that Addison is best suited for this delivery that will undoubtedly be filled with complications." Callie felt tears forming in her eyes. She leaned her head on his shoulder and cried.

Mark just held her and gently rubbed her back. "Listen we are doing everything that we can do…Marisol put you on the injections to help develop the trips' lungs…I am going to call Addison tonight. We'll tell Noah about everything when he gets home."

Callie nodded and said "I hope he'll be happy. He won his bet anyway…although we don't know the sex of the third baby."

Mark laughed and said "Well, I guess we'll call that a push. Why don't you eat dinner…and I will call Addison. I love you." He kissed her softly and got up grabbing his cell phone so he could find Addison's number.


	19. Chapter 19

Mark finished his last surgery of the day and scrubbed out. Mark changed clothes and grabbed his bag. He was exhausted and ready to go home. The surgery had lasted two hours longer than he had anticipated but the damage to the woman's face had been more severe than Mark had originally anticipated. He had done his best work for a young woman that had suffered awful facial scars in a car accident. Mark knew he needed to get home to Callie and Noah but first he needed to have a talk with his best friend. Mark was walking passed the nurses' station and saw Derek. Mark waited until Derek started walking and walked with him. "Do you have time for a beer at Joe's after work?" asked Mark casually.

Having seen Mark waiting for him out of the corner of his eye Derek laughed and asked "Are you stalking me? Sure I have time for a beer after work…what's going on? You look terrible…no something worse than terrible. You look like you were hit by a whole fleet of buses."

Mark groaned and said "I look that bad? Thanks for the vote of confidence buddy boy. Last night was a very long night." Mark stopped and looked at his reflection in a window. He groaned seeing how exhausted he looked. "You are being kind in your description. I look like death warmed over."

Derek chuckled and asked "You and Callie do the horizontal mambo last night?" He knew from long talks with Mark that Callie was quite the firecracker in bed. Derek collected his bag and looked at Mark. "I am ready to go when you are."

"No…we stayed up last night talking about the babies and what we are going to do. We are seriously in a tight spot. I could use some outside counsel if you know what I mean. I'll buy the beers." said Mark chuckling.

Derek could tell by the tone of Mar's chuckle that whatever this was about was serious. Derek patted Mark on the back. "I have all night man. I'll meet you over at Joe's" Derek walked off to call Meredith and let her know they'd have to see each other later. Derek then headed over to Joe's to meet up with Mark. He walked in and spotted Mark sitting at the bar. Derek walked over and had a seat next to him. "So what is going on?" asked Derek figuring it was easier to just get straight to the point.

"I ordered a pitcher of beer." said Mark. He poured Derek a glass and pushed it to him. Mark finished his first glass of beer and poured a second. "Callie had a check up yesterday and we found out the genders of the babies… but at the same time Callie's OB identified a third baby. Earlier in the pregnancy she had assumed that it was just a shadow…and truth be told Callie and I looked at the same screen and we thought it was a shadow too. Turns out it was Baby Sloan C. Callie has preeclampsia and so her OB wants to deliver as soon as next week if the medication doesn't work…but Callie is only 30 weeks…it is risky and she's scared…so we called Addison. She's making the trip up from LA to take a look at Callie." said Mark. "Two babies, Noah, and the two of us in a penthouse was going to be a tight fit…three babies, is nearly impossible. They nursery isn't even big enough for three cribs, and two changing tables…I know…because Callie had me in there last night with a damn measuring tape!" Mark slid the sonogram picture over to him.

Derek nearly choked on his beer. "Three babies?" asked Derek. "That is some uh…horribly potent sperm buddy." "Wow…congratulations?" asked Derek tentatively not sure how happy or not happy Mark and Callie were about the latest development. He made a mental note to himself that he needed to buy another gift for the babies. Derek looked at the sonogram and chuckled. "Wow…" said Derek. He slid the picture back to Mark.

"No…it is definitely congratulations we were shocked of course but…one more baby is great. We are happy to be having all three…it just means that we are going to have to move a lot sooner than we anticipated. And Callie is going crazy…we stayed up half the night looking at houses online because she's terrified and when she's scared the only thing that soothes her is making a plan…she feels like if she has a plan she can control things…which is absurd but you can't tell a hormonal, crying, angry, pregnant woman that if you'd like to be able to sleep in your own bed. She is worried about delivering this early and she's hoping that Addison will have some ingenious strategy to let her get another four weeks before she has to give birth. She feels better about 34 weeks gestation…and I have to agree but I am not willing to do that if it is going to risk Callie and the babies' lives. Marisol has already put Callie on corticosteroid injections to help boost the lung development of the babies and she is currently on a high blood pressure medication." said Mark.

Derek said "Well, is there anything that I can do to help…you know that I will do it. I've known you my whole life…your are like a brother to me…"

Mark smiled at Derek and said "You are my brother. It is good to have you back. For awhile I wasn't sure that you'd ever let me back in your life again…I think that was the worst of it all..thinking that I'd lost you forever…" Mark paused and shook his head. "I said that last part out loud didn't I..?" "Anyway…what you could do for me is…agree to be the godfather of to my kids…Callie and I talked last night and we decided that we couldn't think of a better candidate."

Derek laughed and said "Oh yeah…you definitely said that aloud. Don't worry I love you too. I was more upset that you betrayed me than I was about the affair with Addison. In all honesty…she and I weren't really happy…we both probably should have called it quits before then…but I guess…I wanted what my parents had…you know that sort of lasting love. I guess at the time I didn't realize that only works if you have it with the right person." "You two want me to be the godfather to the babies?" asked Derek with a grin.

"You think you have it with the right person now?" asked Mark pushing away his glass so he didn't pour himself another beer. He needed to be sober to drive himself home. "Of course…you are my best friend and you are a good man. You grew up in a great home. I wouldn't trust anyone else. But we were hoping you'd also consider being Noah's godfather. If anything were to happen to Callie and I wouldn't trust anyone else to raise my kids."

"Yes…yes I think I do. Meredith has a lot of flaws and she is horribly neurotic but…she's amazing and she has a reason to be neurotic so it is excusable. Her father abandoned her…her mother couldn't be bothered with caring for her emotionally…she's lucky she came out as normal as she did." said Derek it was obvious how much he loved that woman. "What about you..?" asked Derek. "Of course I will!"

"Yeah, Callie is the one for me. Before her I never thought I'd ever be satisfied with just one…but she gives me everything I need sexually and otherwise. And most importantly…she doesn't love me for who she wants me to be or who I could be…she loves me for the man that I am..flawed and all. And to make it better…she wants to have my babies… and she loves my son. I just want to give her…everything." said Mark.

"Sounds like wedding bells to me." said Derek. He knew that Mark felt pretty strongly about Callie but he was shocked to hear his friend express the depth of his feelings.

"Not just yet…I want to wait for the right moment to propose to Callie. Besides if I try to propose now she'll be pissed…she'll think I am only doing it because she is pregnant. And I don't want to accidentally scare her off. She's so scared of being hurt again after that debacle with O'Malley. I could still ring that little bastard's neck." said Mark shaking his head. "I don't know what she saw in him."

Derek laughed and said "I can't say much he is one of Meredith's best friends but he is a goober that is for sure. I think the main problem is that he married her when he wasn't ready to do that. And instead of acting like a grown man and just telling her that…he decided to take the coward's way out and broke her hear in the process."

Mark said "Well, if he interferes in my relationship again I am going to beat him until someone has to put him together again. But he has been on his best behavior since his last stunt of calling Callie's father."

Derek chuckled. "You have to give him points for originality. How many men would think to call their ex's father to sabotage her new relationship? I am assuming it was a last ditch effort to throw a monkey wrench in your plans."

"I wanted to run him over with my car…and I would have if Callie wasn't the one that would have been responsible for reassembling his broken body." said Mark.

Derek laughed and shook his head finishing his glass of beer. "Well, I understand that sentiment. I punched you for flirting with Meredith and she wasn't even my girlfriend at the time. But I wanted her…that is for sure."

Mark smiled and put some money on the bar. "I should probably head home. I told Callie it'd only be an hour or so. She wants to tell Noah about the babies together. I'll see you later. Thanks for coming here with me."

"Hey…what are friends for…?" asked Derek. "I'll see you tomorrow." said Derek. He stood up and followed Mark out of the bar.

Mark stopped at a couple of stores before heading him. He unlocked the door and walked into the penthouse carrying two shopping bags and a bouquet of calla lilies. He looked over at the couch and smiled seeing Callie and Noah playing a video game together. "Who is winning?" asked Mark closing the door with his foot. He locked the door and walked over to the couch.

"Hi dad!" yelled Noah over his shoulder as he played the game.

Callie laughed and said "Noah is winning as always! But I am starting to get better." Callie looked up pausing the game for a moment and grinned seeing Mark. "Flowers? For me…?" asked Callie with a smile.

Mark chuckled and said "I am convinced that he cheats somehow. How can he be more coordinated than me…I am a surgeon!" "Yes, flowers for you…I bought something for all of my favorite people." said Mark. Mark handed a bag to Noah. "That is for you son." said Mark ruffling Noah's hair.

Callie laughed and said "He doesn't cheat…he is just better than you.:

Noah opened the bag and reached in pulling out a brand new video camera. "Oh cool! Thanks dad this is awesome." said Noah excitedly.

Mark handed the other bag to Callie.

Callie opened the bag and smiled seeing three chocolate brown teddy bears. "Mark…I love it." Said Callie chuckling softly.

"Hey buddy…Callie and I need to tell you something." said Mark having a seat in the chair adjacent to the couch. "You know we went to the doctor yesterday to see the babies."

Noah nodded and asked "So did I win the bet? Am I getting little brothers?"

Mark smiled and said "Yes you did win the bet…Baby A is a boy and Baby B is a boy. But…we don't know the gender of Baby C…." Mark chuckled and reached into his wallet paying Noah.

Noah's eyes widened and looked over at Callie's stomach.

Callie chuckled at his expression. She smiled and said "But you still win the bet because you were right about A and B being boys…"

Noah smiled brightly. "So I could end up with three brothers or two brothers and sister? That is awesome!" said Noah excitedly. "When will you know what the third baby is?" asked Noah.

"Well, we probably won't know until they are born. Baby C is tucked behind Baby B…there isn't a lot of room in there…" said Mark chuckling.

"Ah man…I wanted to go double or nothing." said Noah laughing.

Mark and Callie both laughed. Mark chuckled and said "He is definitely my son."

"So…when are you two gonna figure out names? It is kinda weird calling them A, B, and C." said Noah.

Mark said "Well, we are still thinking of names…but there is something else that we need to tell you…Callie has really high blood pressure right now and that is bad for her and the babies. So the doctor is giving her some medicine to bring down her blood pressure…and some steroids to help develop the babies' lungs faster…because there is a very good chance that the babies will have to be born before they are ready."

Noah's smile faded and a worried look appeared on his face. "They are gonna be okay right?" asked Noah curiously.

Mark nodded and said "We are going to make sure that they stay in there as long as they can so that they can come out and be happy and healthy. But for that to happen Callie is going to have to get a lot of rest…so she's going to be on bedrest…which means she just rests and no cooking no cleaning…"

Noah's eyes widened. "Can she play video games?" asked Noah scared that it was going to hurt the babies.

Callie said "Sure I can play video games Noah. I just can't do a lot of walking around the house or work…I have to take it easy..but we can still hang out and watch movies and play video games…laying down and doing things like that are pretty much the only things I can do. But there is something else that we need to talk about…we know how much you love living here in the penthouse…but we need more space with three babies. So we are going to have to start house hunting. But this is going to be your new home too so we want to know what you want in a new house…"

Noah's face saddened when Callie started talking about the penthouse. He though she was going to say that he had to go back to his mother. He perked up hearing that they were just going to look for a house. "Ummm…I'd like my own bedroom…with my own bathroom…" said Noah.

Mark chuckled and said "Well, sure…we know that but what else? Do you want room for like a rec room or a media room..?"

"Definitely a media room that would be so awesome! We could like movies and games in there…can you imagine watching the Yankees on a huge screen?" said Noah excitedly.

Mark laughed and said "Alright…media room it is. And I know I'd like a gym…and I need a home office…and Callie needs an office."

Callie nodded and said "And we need like six bedrooms…because of course right now the babies will be sharing a room but in a couple of years they'll need to spread out."

Mark laughed and said "So essentially we are looking for a mini mansion is what you are saying?"

"It isn't as if we can't afford it Mark…besides this is the place where our family is going to grow up. Noah will go to his first high school dances from this place. Bring his first girlfriend over…the babies are going to grow up there…it has to be perfect." said Callie.

"Well, we could start looking at houses online now…if you two don't mind putting your game off until later?" asked Mark.

Noah said "You really want me to help you guys find a new house?"

"Of course we do…this is your house too… it has to be cool enough to invite your friends to." said Callie with a smile. Callie reached over and picked up the laptop and started searching for houses with her two favorite guys. "Now…I know where I'd like to live…and your dad is going to have a duck because it is expensive…Mercer Island…it is only 7 miles away from Seattle…it will only add 15 extra minutes to our commute and Noah you can still go to St. Leo's if you like. It is a private school so you wouldn't have to change schools unless you wanted to. But Mercer Island has a really great high school academically and athletically."

Mark laughed and said "I feel like I am being set up here. Cal..you already know what house you want…don't you?"

Callie laughed and said "No…I just like the Mercer Island community…and I did some research earlier…and there are a couple of really great houses up for sale…" The three of them spent two hours looking at houses on the Island. Callie smiled and said "So come on…tell me that those houses aren't awesome!"

Noah laughed and said "I really liked all of them…but there was one that I thought was the best…I really love the one with the dock and the boat lift…I mean we could have our own boat on lake Washington!"

Mark chuckled and shook his head. He knew the one that Noah was talking about. He smirked looking at Callie. "You like that house the best too don't you…I saw you practically drooling over the guest apartment over the 4 car garage."

She smiled and said "My parents could visit without actually staying in the house with us!"

"So it is two against one huh…" said Mark. He had to admit he loved the house they were talking about but it was 5 million dollars. "Alright…I'll tell you what I'll call the agent tomorrow and see when I can set up a viewing…and I'll take Noah with me…we'll come back and tell you all about it." said Mark.

Noah said "I could use my knew camera to take video of the house for you so you don't miss it."

Callie smiled and said "Noah that is so sweet of you. I'd really like that."

Mark laughed and said "So it is settled…I am going to tour a 5 million dollar house and most likely put in an offer…"


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Well, guys this story is coming to a close. There are only two chapters left! I would love some baby name input for these triplets! I want to thank everyone that has read and reviewed my story and has been patient with my sporadic updates.

* * *

Mark was up early the next morning he drove Noah to school and then headed back home. He worked out and then grabbed a shower and got dressed for the day. In a couple of hours he would need to pick up Addison from the airport. He walked over to the bed and sat next to Callie's slumbering body. He kissed her forehead. "Cal..." said Mark in a quiet voice not wanting to startle her.

"Morning..." mumbled Callie in a voice heavy from sleep. "What time is it?" asked Callie opening her tired eyes to look at Mark. She moved to sit up in the bed some when she realized that he was fully dressed. "I can't believe that I am so tired...we are going to have start going to bed before 2:00 in the morning or you and I are going to be in big trouble when the babies arrive."

Mark glanced at his watch. "It is 10:00...I'm on call today but I don't have to go in. Addison's plane lands in another two hours. Do you want me to go out and get some breakfast for you or I could cook a little something for you?" he smiled and lightly brushed her hair away from her face. "It is because of the babies that we are staying up so late...but we got a lot accomplished once Noah went to bed last night." That night Mark and Callie had ordered more baby furniture and worked out the pros and cons of moving to Mercer Island. Callie had of course come out on top.

Callie shook her head. "I can't believe I slept so late. No, I just want some fruit from the fridge...there should be a fruit salad in there. I am starving I know that much. What I really want is bacon but I will be good and go the healthy route. So I know you were hesitant last night about buying the house that I really liked..."

"Cal I was just teasing you last night about the price...I called the real estate agent after I dropped Noah off at school. We are scheduled to look at it this evening...and I called the agent that sold me this penthouse and let her know I wanted to put it back on the market." said Mark.

Callie kissed him passionately. She pulled back with a grin. "Mark I am so glad to hear you say that because I really want that house...it is prefect and I think raising our family there is going to be amazing." She leaned in and kissed him passionately.

Mark pulled back and said "You are going to start giving the lower half of me some ideas if you keep that up...and we both have to be good...no sex..." Mark groaned hearing the phrase no sex fall out of his own mouth. His hand went to her stomach and rubbed gently. "You have to know that I love you guys...daddy is going without sex..."

Callie laughed and said "Mark!"

"What? I just want them to know what kind of sacrifices Daddy is making here! They are boys they will grow up and understand my plight. You look so sexy when you first wake up and I am supposed to not ravish you." said Mark.

"I want to take a bath and then I will eat breakfast. Too bad I have to take a bath all by myself." She pulled herself out of bed and pulled her night gown off over her head and tossed it at Mark. She chuckled and headed into the bathroom closing the door behind her.

Callie's night gown hit him in the face. "Thinking about you naked and wet in a bathtub is not helping the situation Cal!" called Mark through the bathroom door. Mark chuckled and walked out of the bedroom. Mark sat in the living room and watched the news for awhile before he went into the kitchen and cooked breakfast for himself and Callie. As he was cooking he heard a knock at the door. Mark wondered who it could be. He took the oatmeal off of the stove and walked to the door. He peered out the peephole and laughed. he opened the door. "Addison what are you doing here? I thought I was supposed to pick you up at the airport in two hours?" asked Mark.

Addison smiled and said "I decided to take an earlier flight...after to talking to Callie last night I figured I should get her soon before she went absolutely mad. Where is she?"

"Come in." said Mark helping her bring her bags in. "Callie is in the bath right now...I just woke her up not too long ago. Thank you for coming. Callie doesn't trust anyone else with something this serious and neither do I...you and I have had our differences but you are a top-notch doctor and we need you. Can I get you anything to drink? No coffee though...I got rid of it a couple months ago...I felt too bad for Callie to keep it around."

Addison said "Well, Callie is a friend. She helped me get through some very difficult times here in Seattle. You know we keep in touch...what sort of friend would I be if I didn't come running. Have you taken her blood pressure this morning? A bottle of water would be good."

Mark shook his head and said "No, I haven't taken her blood pressure yet. I was going to wait until she was fully awake. She slept in this morning we stayed up late last night shopping on line and talking about a new house." Mark walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water for Addison. he tossed it to her and went back to making the oatmeal.

"A house? You two are giving up this place? It seems to suit both of you." said Addison after she caught the bottle of water. She looked around at the view.

"We were going to try to stay here for a year after the babies were born but we both agree that three babies in this penthouse is going to be too much. We don't even have a place to put the third crib...we need an actual house. Callie has found one that she is really fond of...Noah likes it too. And I am not to particular on details as long as I have a gym and an office to call my own. So I am going to look at it this evening with Noah..." said Mark.

"I never expected to see you this way...you know...a family man..." said Addison. She didn't want to bring up their old baggage but she knew that it was there. "I'm sorry Mark...for...taking this opportunity away from you before...I am glad that you've fond happiness with Callie." said Addison watching him serve up the bowls of oatmeal. "I know...that before I said that...I thought you would be a horrible father but...I was wrong...and I'm sorry for saying that."

Mark stood frozen for a moment. He nodded and said "I thank God everyday that Callie is foolish enough to take a chance on me. I mean common sense should have told her to run far away from me as soon as she found out that she was pregnant...but she didn't and I feel lucky every day for that." Mark shook his head and said "You don't have to apologize...you didn't believe in me because...I hadn't given you a reason to...you couldn't depend on me to be faithful...let alone help you raise a child. Maybe I wasn't ready...maybe we weren't right for one another...who knows...but I am happy now...and I hope you find happiness too...whatever that means for you."

Addison offered a sad smile but nodded. "I think that I will one day...that probably won't include a child though...I can't...I can't get pregnant again. It has taken me awhile to come to terms with that but I finally have...I am not the least bit fertile..."

Mark paused and said "Addison...I'm sorry...but there are other options right...surrogacy...adoption...you may not be able to be a mother in the traditional way you have been dreaming of...but the ultimate dream of being a parent...being a mother...that is still attainable. And you shouldn't deny yourself just because it isn't the way you imagined it being...you have a lot to offer...you'd be an good mom...I believe that."

Callie yelled from the bedroom. "Mark? Are you sure that not having sex is part of this bed rest thing? I am incredibly horny this morning!" Callie walked out of the bedroom wearing her robe. She stopped in her tracks seeing Addison. "Addie!" said Callie walking over to her. Callie hugged her and smiled. "I am so glad that you are here."

Mark chuckled and shook his head. "You know how much I love sex. Stop tempting me woman!"

Addison returned Callie's hug. "Good thing I showed up early. How are you feeling...you need to be sitting down by the way." Addison nodded her head toward the couch.

"I know I know." said Callie. She went over to the couch and had a seat. She put her legs up on the couch and groaned. "This bedrest stuff is bullshit."

"It's been less than 48 hours!" said Mark laughing. He brought oatmeal and fruit over to Callie along with a glass of juice. "Here eat." said Mark kissing the top of her head. "Do you want anything to eat Addison?" asked Mark.

Addison said "No thank you. I ate breakfast at LAX. So I called Richard this morning and asked him about having privileges at the hospital and he agreed to that. So we can go in this afternoon and I can do a full exam and we can see where to go from there. But so far your doctor is doing everything that I would do in this situation. This is your first pregnancy and you are carrying multiples...both of those are risk factors for preeclampsia. So who knows about the trips?"

Callie said "Mark and I told Noah last night. I told Chief Webber and Cristina Yang. Mark told Derek...so by now...the entire hospital..." Callie laughed and shook her head. "The hospital is worse than high school. Rumors spread through the hospital like wildfire. Mark and I are going to buy a house."

Addison chuckled seeing the excitement on the younger woman's face. "Yes, Mark mentioned something about that to me...what sort of house...?"

"Oh it is the most gorgeous house ever! It is on Mercer Island and it sits on Lake Washington. It was the prefect house for us. It has everything that everyone wanted." said Callie with a grin.

Mark walked over having a seat. "It is ridiculously big! Too big for us right now...but Callie says she isn't willing to move again."

Callie laughed and said "Exactly and we can grow into this house...it is a seven bedroom, eight bathroom house with a media room, gym, and a bonus room that will most likely be a play room." Callie picked up the laptop and pulled up the listing showing it to Addison.

Addison said "Wow...that is an impressive home. That will certainly be enough room for you guys to grow into...probably with some extra room actually."

Mark smirked and said "Well, Cal does want more kids eventually...and since I am obviously so virile...we might need the extra space."

Addison asked "Don't you mean virulent?" She laughed at Mark and asked "Well, how many kids are you two thinking of having?"

Mark chuckled and said "Don't look at me...talk to Callie." He pointed at Callie and said "Tell her what you told me last night when you were trying to convince me that we needed this huge house..."

Callie was eating her oatmeal and fruit. She stopped eating and smiled. "I gave him a ball park figure of 5 kids." said Callie chuckling as she went back to eating breakfast.

"Oh Mark...that isn't that bad at all. You have Noah and then the trips...so that is four. She only wants one more." said Addison admonishing Mark. "I think that is a great number. Much higher than the national average." said Addison chuckling. "I'll love having so many little Sloans to spoil with gifts. They'll love to see Auntie Addie coming around. "

Mark laughed nearly spitting out his juice. "No... she doesn't want five...she means she wants five more! As in 9 total. I told her hell she might as well say six and then we can make it an even ten. I've always been fond of round numbers."

Addison's jaw dropped and she stared at her friend. "Have you suddenly become Mormon?" asked Addison.

Mark laughed and said "Well, she is a lapsed Catholic..."

Calllie laughed and said "I don't know...I wasn't sure about this mother thing but having Noah here...and being pregnant...i don't know I kind of like the idea of being a mother. It isn't as if we have to have them close together. I am still a young woman... we can spread them out over a couple of years..."

Mark chuckled and said "Yeah...I am the old one. I am already in my 40's. I told her the cutoff point is when I turn 50. No more kids after that point. I want to get some alone time with her before I die."

Callie chuckled and tossed a throw pillow at him. "Oh shut up Sloan. I said five was a ball park...so anywhere between two and five will make me happy. Besides think of all of the sex you will get to have in the meantime."

Mark smirked devilishly and said "Well, you have a point there...lots of hot impromptu sex...on-call rooms...you know...I've always wanted to have sex in the back of a mini-van." He walked over and kissed Callie on the lips. "We can have as many as you want Cal...I just want to make you happy baby. Besides if Noah is any evidence...my kids come out looking great."

"I can't believe you haven't already." said Addison laughing. Addison watched the two of them and could see the realness of their love. This wasn't a relationship of convenience, they were both stark raving mad in love with one another.

Callie chuckled and pinched his butt. "You and your genes. Move...I am hungry." said Callie laughing. She winked at him and finished eating her breakfast.

Later that afternoon….

Callie laid on the exam table staring up at the ceiling as Addison finished the examination. She always hated this part of the exam but it wasn't so bad having Mark there to hold her hand. she squeezed his hand and worried about the babies. Callie had just found out that her cervix was dilated and that was not a good thing.

Mark said "You know...I've had a fantasy about a threesome...but this wasn't quite how I imagined it." Mark chuckled looking at Callie.

Mark's quip stunned Callie out of her thoughts. She turned her head in his direction and saw the grin on his face. Callie laughed and said "You are such a pervert Sloan...a dirty..dirty pervert..." Callie chuckled feeling the tension she had been feeling start to slip away. "I can't believe you'd say that right now..." said Callie chuckling.

Mark smirked and said "I am just saying...my ex is currently between my girlfriend's legs and nothing sexual is going on here...there is just something wrong with this. It is like the Twilight Zone where you think you are getting what you want and Bam! It turns out to be your worst nightmare."

Addison was trying to keep her professional composure but she chuckled softly as well. She took off her gloves and tossed them in the garbage. "I am so glad that I was finished with the exam. It is not nice to laugh during an exam..." She shook her head. "Okay...in all seriousness...you are dilated much more than I'd like for you to be and the contractions are still coming...I am going to put you terbutaline to try to stop the contractions..." "Callie we are going to do everything we can to give you a couple more weeks but...anymore roadblocks and we might have to just bite the bullet. 30 weeks isn't optimal...but it isn't bad either...we want to deliver with as few complications as possible."

Callie tried to take herself out of worried mother mode and into rational doctor mode. She nodded and said "I want whatever is best for the babies...whatever you think Addison...I trust your medical opinion."

"Well, let's see if we can get these contractions to stop...but I'd like to keep you here at the hospital overnight. If you do go into labor I don't want to waste anytime on having to get you here to the hospital." said Addison. "It is just a precaution..." said Addison. "I am going to try to get you hooked up to a fetal monitor so that we can make sure that everyone is okay in there."

Callie looked at Mark worriedly. She didn't know what to say.

Mark kissed her cheek and said "It's okay baby...it is just a precaution. I'll stay here with you tonight. I will see if Noah can stay at Derek's place for the night..."

Callie nodded and said "Okay..."

Addison said "Alright, I am going to go work on the paperwork to get to admitted for the night." Addison walked out of the room.

Mark kissed Callie softly. "I will be right back baby..." said Mark. Mark walked out of the room and caught up with Addison. "Addison..."

Addison stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

"Be straight with me...how likely is it that she is going to go into labor tonight?" asked Mark seriously. He could tell by the look on her face that she was concerned.

Addison sighed and looked at Mark. "If the medication doesn't work...we will have to go in tonight... I want to get her hooked up to the fetal monitor to make sure none of the fetuses are in distress at this point."

Mark nodded and said "Thank you." Mark walked off in the other direction to find Derek.

Derek saw Mark walking toward him and could tell by his expression that something was wrong. Derek put down the chart he was holding and walked over to Mark. "What's going on?" asked Derek.

"Addison thinks that Callie is going to go into labor tonight...she is having contractions and she is dilated...Addison isn't real hopeful that the medication is going to stem the tide...Callie is being admitted into the hospital for the night." said Mark.

"Man..." said Derek just standing there for a minute. "I know that you are worried...but Addison is a great doctor...and she is going to do everything that she can. And you know she will have all the support she needs here at the hospital...is there anything you need me to do?" asked Derek.

Mark said "I was wondering if Noah could stay with you tonight. I want to make sure that I am here with Callie. I don't want to leave her here alone. She is freaking out...even though she is trying to appear calm at the moment."

Derek nodded and said "Of course I can do that...in fact I can just stay at your place tonight that way Noah doesn't have to stay the night in a strange place. I am sure he will be freaked out enough as it is..."

Mark said "Thanks Derek...I really appreciate this...I am going to go home soon and get a bag for Callie and then let Noah know what is going on... I don't want to have to explain this to him..." He sighed.

"You'll find the right words Mark...I know you will." said Derek.

Mark nodded and said "Thanks Derek." Mark headed back to the room and knocked. he walked into the room seeing Callie and Yang talking to one another. Callie was sitting on the side of the bed dressed. Mark kissed Callie's cheek. "Listen I am going to go pack a bag for you and have a talk with Noah...i will be back in like an hour...i promise."

"Okay Mark...take your time...and let Noah that everything is going to be okay...I don't want him to worry." said Callie quietly.

Mark nodded and said "Don't worry I will take care of everything. I love you."

Callie nodded and said "I love you too Mark..."

Mark leaned down and placed three kisses on her rounded stomach. He picked up up coat and walked out of the room and headed home. Mark arrived home and realized that Noah had made it home from school already. Mark took in a breath and said "Hey Noah...how was school today?"

Noah said "It was really good. I got my essay back in English...my grade was a 95."

"That is great son. I am proud of you." said Mark with a smile. "Come here for a minute...I want to have a talk with you." said Mark sitting down on the couch.

Noah had a seat with Mark. "Is everything okay?"

Mark said "Well...Callie started having contractions earlier today...my doctor friend Addison is going to give her some medicine to try to stop them...but Callie might go into labor tonight..."

Noah said "But...isn't it like too earlier and stuff?" Noah looked at his father scared.

Mark put his arm around Noah's shoulders and said "Premature babies...are to risk of not being developed enough...but 30 weeks gives them a good chance...and the NICU at the hospital is really good. So we are just going to think positive that your little brothers are going to be healthy even if they are a little early. But because of this...Callie is going to have to spend the night at the hospital tonight...and I am going to stay there with her."

"I want to be there too." said Noah seriously.

Mark said "I know Callie will appreciate that...but you need to be somewhere that you can actually get some rest. So I asked Derek if he'd stay the night here with you and he said that he would okay...and if anything happens...I'll call Derek and he'll bring you to the hospital...but what would really help us out the most right now is knowing that you are home resting so that you can go to school tomorrow and make good grades...okay?"

Noah nodded a little and then just threw his arms around Mark hugging him tightly.

Mark was a little shocked but lightly patted his back. "Nothing is for certain right now...the medication could work and Callie could be right back here tomorrow playing video games with you..."

"Can I go see her now?" asked Noah looking at Mark.

Mark nodded and said "Sure...we can do that. I just need to pack a bag for Callie and then we can go to the hospital. You can hang out there with us until Derek is off of work. So you should probably go get some stuff to entertain yourself okay...?"

Noah nodded and said "Okay..." He got off the couch and went to his room.

Mark sighed and ran a frustrated hand over his head. His son was scared, Callie was scared, and he was scared. But he had to stay positive and be strong for both of them right now. Mark got up and walked into the bedroom. He went into the closet and started looking for a bag to pack for Callie. He stopped seeing an already packed back. He picked it up and walked over to the bed setting it down. He opened it and looked inside. He chuckled softly to himself. Callie had already packed a hospital bag. Callie in nesting mode was a truly frightening sight. He sat on the bed for a moment holding two sets of baby clothes in his hand. He felt tears start to moisten his eyes. He stood up trying to snap himself out of it. He walked to the nursery and went through the baby clothes and found another outfit. He knew that if they were born tonight they would be in the hospital for some time but he didn't want Callie to think he was giving up on the idea of bringing home three healthy babies. He walked back to their bedroom and put the outfit into her bag. He grabbed his gym bag and tossed in some clothes for himself and then carried the bags into the living room. He took out his cell phone and searched for the real estate agent's number. He called her and waited for an answer.

"Marsha Ross Realty...how can I help you?" came a chipper voice on the other end of the line.

"Uh yes...this is Mark Sloan. I spoke with you earlier about touring a house on Mercer Island. I have an appointment with you for 5:00 this evening..." said Mark.

"Oh yes...Mr. Sloan..how can I help you?" asked Marsha.

"I will not be able to make it to that appointment but I would like to move forward with putting an offer on the house...is there anyway you can me at Seattle Grace Hospital to fill out the paperwork." said Mark.

Marsha said "Uh...of course I can do that...what time would be good for you Mr. Sloan?"

Mark looked at his watch and said "In about an hour would be good for me. I want to put in an offer as soon as possible. Just have me paged when you arrive."

"Of course I will meet you there." said Marsha.

"Thank you...goodbye." said Mark. Mark stuffed his cell phone back into his pocket.

Noah walked into the room carrying is messenger bag. "I am ready to go dad." said Noah.

Mark nodded and said "Alright...let's get going buddy." Mark walked out of the penthouse locking the door behind them. They headed down to the car and Mark tossed the bags into the backseat.

Noah climbed into the car putting on his seatbelt. "Can we pick up some flowers for Callie?" asked Noah.

Mark smiled at Noah as he climbed into the car. "Sure...I bet she will like that a lot." said Mark. He put on his own seatbelt and the two of them took off.


	21. Chapter 21

Later that night Callie lay in her hospital bed staring up at the ceiling counting sheep or some sort of furry animal she wasn't altogether sure. The room was silent except for the sounds coming from the monitors. Callie could at least take some solace in knowing that her babies were okay for the moment. But as Callie lay there having intermittent contractions she knew that it was only a matter of time before Addison Montgomery would walk through those doors and tell her that they were going to have to deliver the babies tonight. Callie was prepared for that fact and had been since she was admitted to the hospital eight hours ago. The evening had been wonderful though. Mark, Noah, and Callie ate dinner together in her hospital room and then sat around talking about names for the babies for nearly two hours before Derek was off duty and could take Noah home.

From that point on Mark and Callie had spent the rest of the evening talking to each other and talking to the babies. It was one of Mark's favorite past times now. In fact he had fallen asleep in the chair next to her bed with his hand resting on Callie's stomach. Callie had been so excited earlier when Mark told her he had made an offer on the house of their dreams. She couldn't wait to find out if their offer would be accepted. Callie reached over and picked up the note pad on the nightstand. She looked over the baby names that they had talked about earlier. She smiled thinking about the babies.

Callie smiled watching Mark sleep uncomfortably in the reclined chair. She knew how much this man loved her and loved their children. Now more than ever she was in love with her life. She had everything she wanted in life. And that was what scared her the most about this situation. She had everything she had ever wanted which means she had everything in the world to lose. If anything happened to the babies, Callie knew that was something she wouldn't be able to recover from. She had all of the fears tied up inside of her but she couldn't tell Mark about them. He put on a brave front for her but she could see that he was just as terrified as she was maybe more so. Callie couldn't believe that it was nearly 2:00 in the morning and her contractions still hadn't stopped.

Mark woke up feeling Callie move in the bed. He glanced over at her and asked "Are you feeling okay Cal?" He sat up in the chair more seeing that she looked uncomfortable…well more so than she had earlier. "Are the contractions worsening?" asked Mark.

Callie shook her head and said "No, I am fine. Just uncomfortable in this bed now. My back is really starting to hurt laying here and I am hungry." She laughed softly. "But I am not in any more pain than I already was…"

Mark said "Well, why don't I go get another pillow for your back…and I can go out and get you something to eat." Mark stood up from his chair. He grabbed his car keys and his coat.

"Oh Mark you don't have to go out to get me anything…I am sure that I will be fine. But I could use the pillow. It might help take some of this pressure off of my back." said Callie.

He smiled and said "You and the munchkins are hungry. I will run to that all night burger place that you love…get you a burger and some chili cheese fries…maybe a triple thick chocolate shake?" He smirked knowing that he had her at chili cheese fries.

"Well…just as long as you aren't too tired to go…I guess I wouldn't mind having a little something to eat…especially those chili cheese fries." said Callie.

He smiled and said "Alright. I am going to go get your pillow first and then I will go pick up something for us to eat. I have to say…I feel hungry too." He winked at her and walked out of the room. He walked down the hall and grabbed a pillow and then walked back into the room. He helped Callie sit up some and he put the pillow beneath the middle of her back. He kissed her on the lips. "I love you baby. I will be back in 30 minutes tops."

Callie smiled. "I love you too honey. Thanks." She rested feeling a little better. She closed her eyes for a bit.

Mark smiled and walked out of the room leaving the hospital. He made it back to the hospital 40 minutes later. He was carrying the take out bags from the diner. He headed up to Callie's room.

Dr. Bailey saw Mark and walked over to him. "Mark, I was just about to try your cell phone. Where have you been? We didn't know that you had left the hospital." There was an urgency in Miranda's voice.

"Torres was hungry so I drove out to her favorite diner to get her something to eat. It ended up taking longer than I thought. What's wrong?" asked Mark suddenly realizing that something must have been horribly wrong.

"Callie's blood pressure soared out of control...Dr. Montgomery wasn't able to get it back down. Callie lost consciousness. They had to move her into the operating room for an emergency Cesarean. Addison said that she would be starting as soon as Callie is prepped. We have NICU on standby."

Mark felt like his entire world stopped as those words fell out of Bailey's mouth. He could see Bailey's mouth moving but he couldn't comprehend the words coming out of her mouth. Mark handed her the bags and took off for the operating room. He stopped to change before he walked into the operating room in his scrubs. He looked at the monitors seeing just how high Callie's blood pressure was. Even doing the c-section was a potential risk at this moment. Mark walked over to the table seeing that Callie was still unconscious. "You are going to pull through this." whispered Mark to Callie as he stood there. He held her hand watching Addison perform the c-section.

Addison had already started the c-section and was currently pulling out a baby with a head full of black curly hair. She quickly suctioned the throat and nose of the little boy that she was holding and soon a cry was heard from his little body. Addison clamped the umbilical cord in two places and then cut the cord. The baby was handed off to a nurse who rushed him over to the other side of the room to be evaluated.

Mark watched his son be moved across the room and felt a small sense of relief wash over him knowing that least one of the babies was okay. He still had two more to worry about. He felt helpless there not being able to do anything but be a spectator. He moved to watch Addison pull out the second baby and found himself silently praying. Something he rarely if ever did but right now seemed as good a time as any. Mark was kicking himself for leaving Callie's side for even a moment.

Addison took her time pulling the second baby out. This baby had a head full of black curly hair as well. When she finally managed to pull the baby out, Addison suctioned the baby's throat and nose. The baby started wail once his airway was clear. She clamped his umbilical cord and cut it before saying "You've got two sons so far." Addison gave Mark a reassuring smile as she handed the baby off to another nurse. Addison saw the fear in Mark's eyes and realized that he was truly a changed man or perhaps this was the man he had always been and she just couldn't see it.

Mark couldn't help but smile even though he was still worried about Callie and the babies. He felt like maybe this was a sign that everything was going to be okay. Mark said "One more to go." More to himself than anyone else. Everything in the OR seemed to fade to the background as he watched Addison.

Addison went to work pulling out the third baby. This baby was smaller than the other two. Addison suctioned the baby's throat and nose. She waited for a cry but wasn't rewarded with one. Addison cut the umbilical cord and handed the baby off to a nurse. The baby was rushed to an adjoining room.

Just then Callie's heart rate plummeted.

"She's coding!" yelled a nurse.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Well, this is the end of the road guys. Thank you for going on this journey with me. I want to thank everyone that took the time to read and review this story. Who knows maybe there will be a sequel in the future!

* * *

Mark rolled over in the bed and reached for Callie. He groaned not feeling her next to him. Mark sat up in the bed some and looked at Callie's side the bed, the crackling fireplace illuminating the empty spot next to him. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand and groaned seeing that it was 4:30 in the morning. Mark got out of the bed wearing only a pair of boxers. He grabbed his robe from the end of the bed and walked out of their bedroom. Mark had a feeling he knew where Callie was. He walked to the bedroom next door and pushed the door open. He heard Callie's soft voice humming a lullaby.

Callie was sitting on the floor of the nursery folding baby clothes and separating them into piles according to which baby they belonged to. The last couple of days she had been obsessing over getting the house ready for the arrival of the babies. Teresa Jade Sloan, Michael Shepherd Sloan, and Nicholas Daniel Sloan would be coming home after spending three months in the NICU. Callie couldn't be more nervous about bringing home three small babies. Callie had spent a week in the hospital after giving birth. She suffered a cardiac episode after Addison delivered the last baby.

Mark walked over to Callie and had a seat with her on the floor. Mark gently caressed her back watching her deliberate movements as she folded clothes. "I rolled over looking for my fiancé and you can imagine my surprise when she wasn't laying next to me...what are you doing up this early, baby?" Mark helped her fold the babies' clothes since he was sitting there with her. "Soon enough it will be time for us to be up for the day." said Mark in a concerned voice.

"I just want everything to be perfect when we bring them home Mark and...I am scared okay...I can admit that...but if I am organized then maybe I won't be a complete failure as a mother. What are we going to do with three babies Mark? How the hell are we supposed to take care of three babies at one time? What if all three of them cry at one time...?" asked Callie. "What if they all get sick at one time?" asked Callie. "All of the monogramming in the world isn't going to make me a good mother!" Callie had gone to great lengths to have most of the babies' shirts monogrammed with their initials. "What if we get them mixed up? What if Noah feels like we are neglecting him because of the babies?" Callie was going into fill panic mode.

Mark took her into his arms. "Hey...you need to calm down. First of all, you are going to be an amazing mother. You already are. You go and visit with the babies every day. You express milk so that they can get the nutrients they need. You read to them...you sing to them. If they all cry at once well you have me here to help. I am taking two months off from work so that I can be here with you guys every day. And we've already hired a really great nanny to be here and help us out. And Derek's mom is flying in to help out for a month and she said if we need her beyond a month that she can arrange that. Yang even offered to babysit...although I am not sure about that aspect. We have so much support and help Callie we can do this I know it and you need to know it too. If they get sick we know a hospital of doctors to help them get well. And we are not going to get them mixed up because you've monogrammed everything! Including their pajamas. Besides Jade is a little smaller than the boys and she is a girl so we will always be able to tell her apart. Michael has hazel eyes and Nicholas has blue eyes so we will be able to tell them apart. And babies sleep a lot so we will make sure that we make time for Noah. We'll take him to a few games, take him to the movies, we are going to make sure he knows how important he is to us."

Callie said "I just...I want to be the best mother ever for all four of them. That is all...I just want the best and...I don't know anything about being a mother. And today the proof will be in the pudding. We are going to bring the babies home and they are going to know that I have no idea what the hell I am doing!" Callie felt tears welling up in her eyes. Her finger ran over the stitching of the monogram of Jade's name. "I am a mess Mark...I am going to cry more than they do." sniffled Callie.

Mark hugged her tightly. "I love you so much Cal...you are going to be my wife...you are amazing. You are such a good mother and step-mother. I'd be lost without you. Michael, Nicholas, and Jade are so lucky to have you as a mother. And when we bring them home they are going to feel how much you love them. I mean look at you...you are wide awake at 4:30 in the morning making sure that every detail is taken care of..."

"Thank you for saying that Mark. You are an amazing father too Mark. The only way I've gotten through the babies being in the hospital was because of you. You've been so supportive and loving. You've spent every free moment with them. Actually...I've been awake since 3:00 in the morning." said Callie chuckling quietly with tears in her eyes. "I couldn't sleep...I am just so anxious about bringing them home. I wish that we could just go and get them right now and bring them home..." said Callie.

He chuckled and said "Well, it is too early right now. Besides we need to wait until I pick up Mother Shepherd from the airport at 9:00. I am glad that you picked this humongous house, because she actually has her own room to stay in while she is here with us. I can't believe that she is willing to live with us for a month or more to help out. We are going to be okay Callie...we really are. And we made out that feeding schedule right? And we set up scheduled time to spend with Noah right so we aren't neglecting him? We are on top of this Callie...you've planned everything out like a military exercise."

"I can believe it...Mrs. Shepherd loves you like you were her own son Mark...you know that. And I have to admit I am so glad that she is going to be here...it will be nice having an experienced mother here to guide me in all of this. I just wish that my mother could make the trip up for a few weeks. I could really use her help to." said Callie. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I love you Mark...you make me feel better." said Callie in a soft voice. "You sure that we can't steal them from the hospital right now?"

Mark laughed. "We don't have to steal them Cal...they are our children. But yes...I am sure that we can't leave our home before sunrise to check our infants out of the hospital. They will be there at noon ready for us to pick them up and for them to be stuffed in whatever pretty outfits mommy has in mind to bring them home in."

"Noon!" complained Callie. "But that is a whole seven hours away. I don't think I will make it." teased Callie laughing softly. She closed her eyes tiredly lying back against Mark. "If I didn't think you would tackle me for trying to leave now...I'd be slipping out of here."

Mark laughed softly. "You are not going to be going anywhere but back to bed." Mark stood up from the floor and gently pulled Callie to her feet. "The rest of this can be taken care of later. There is no need to put away the clothes right now. We have time later in the morning. Right now we need to go back to sleep so that we will be somewhat rested." Mark walked with her to the door and turned off the lights. He walked with Callie back to their bedroom and closed the door behind them.

Callie walked over to the bed taking off her bathrobe and climbed into the bed. She lay against the pillows propped up against the headboard. She yawned tiredly. "I guess I am a little sleepy... I think the adrenaline from my panic attack has worn off." said Callie laughing.

Mark took off his robe and joined her in bed. "Well, I am glad to hear that. I thought I was going to have to go to drastic measures to get you to go to sleep." He winked at her but truth be told Mark was far too sleepy to think about sex. Mark laid down next to Callie and opened his arms to her. "Come on..." said Mark.

Callie smiled and moved so that she was in Mark's arms. She cuddled against his side and closed her eyes tiredly. "Goodnight Mark."

"Goodnight Cal. I love you." said Mark. He closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep grateful that Callie was going to get a little rest. He knew that she was nervous and truth be told so was he. Mark slept until the alarm clock went off at 7:30. Mark reached over smacking the clock angrily. He groaned quietly and sat up in the bed running a tired hand over his face. He looked over at Callie glad to see she was still in the bed asleep. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her temple before slipping from the bed quietly. Mark walked in the bathroom and started the shower. After his shower Mark got dressed and headed downstairs. He walked into their gourmet kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

Noah walked into the kitchen and went straight for the cereal. "Hi dad." said Noah grabbing a bowl and a spoon and heading to the breakfast bar to have a seat.

Mark smiled and said "Morning son." He ruffled Noah's hair and got the milk out of the refrigerator for him. "You sure you don't want me to fix you something for breakfast? I've got enough time to through together some waffles." said Mark leaning against the island.

Noah shook his head and said "Nope, you just want the last of the Apple Jacks and they are mine. Callie buys them for me." Noah stuck his tongue out at Mark as he poured himself a bowl of cereal. He popped a couple pieces of the dry cereal in his mouth. "Can I come to the airport with you?" asked Noah.

Mark laughed heartily and said "Smart boy...I was angling for the Apple Jacks. How come she buys cereal for you and not me?" He smiled. "Sure you can come to the airport with me if you want to; it will be nice having some company while I wait on Mother Shepherd."

Noah smirked and said "That is because Callie likes be better than she likes you dad." Noah poured milk over his cereal and started eating. "Cool I want to go with you then. How soon do I need to be ready?" asked Noah as he ate breakfast.

"I will want to leave in about 40 minutes. So that is enough time for you to get ready." said Mark. He went to the fridge and got together the ingredients for ham, cheese, and spinach omelet. Mark decided to make an omelet for himself and he was going to surprise Callie with one. "So are you excited about your little brothers and sister coming home today?" asked Mark.

Noah nodded and said "I am really excited...an also really glad that my bedroom is around the corner so I won't be hearing any crying. They cry really loud at the hospital."

Mark laughed and said "Smart boy. You are right they do cry very loud. Things are bound to get a little crazy around here once the little ones are home...but I want you to know that if you ever need us or feel like we aren't spending enough time with you...you need to tell us okay. Babies cry when they need something...but it is a little harder to know if you need something if you don't tell us...okay?"

Noah smiled and said "I know dad...besides if you two forget me I'll start slamming doors and leaving the milk on the counter and blaming you."

Mark laughed loudly. Mark and Callie had an argument last week about him forgetting to put the milk back in fridge after he used it. "That is my son...you'll make an impact one way or another." Mark finished cooking breakfast for him and Callie. "I am going to run Callie's omelet up to her and then I will be back to eat breakfast with you."

Noah laughed and said "I am finished eating dad. I am going to go get a shower." Noah got up putting his bowl and spoon in the dishwasher. He left the kitchen leaving the milk on the counter.

Mark looked at the milk and chuckled. "Very funny Noah!" Mark shook his head and grabbed the tray they used for breakfast in bed. He said "My own kid is trying to set me up." Mark carried the tray upstairs to the bedroom. He opened the door and smiled seeing Callie getting dressed. "I thought you would still be asleep." said Mark.

Callie smiled and said "Addie called my cell phone to let me know that she will be here in an hour. She was in LAX at the time. I figured it was time to get up and get a shower." Callie walked over to him and kissed him softly. "Thank you for talking me down this morning...I went a little crazy...briefly." She smiled. "Oooh that looks really good." said Callie taking the tray from him.

Mark said "It is my job to talk you down when you start to float away. Noah is going to go with me to pick up Carolyn. He is up here getting ready now. I am going to go eat breakfast and then we are going to leave. Do you need me to pick up anything while I am out?"

"No, I don't need anything. Just be safe and get back here on time so that we can pick up the babies." said Callie. She kissed him softly. "I love you Mark." said Callie with a smile.

Mark smiled and said "Always. And I love you too Cal." He walked out of the room and went downstairs to eat breakfast.

Twenty minutes later Noah walked into the kitchen pulling on his coat. "I am ready to go dad." said Noah. He was carrying a piece of paper with the name 'Mrs. Shepherd' scrawled on it.

Mark chuckled looking at the paper. "Good idea kiddo" Mark said "I am ready." He grabbed his travel mug of coffee and he left the house with Noah. Mark pulled away from their palatial pad and headed towards Seattle to pick Carolyn up from the airport.

An hour later Carolyn walked into the airport looking for Mark. Her eyes scanned the crowd and spotted Mark standing with Noah. Carolyn made her way over to them. "My plane was a little late but I am here now. Hi!" said Carolyn hugging Mark and then hugging Noah. "You must be Noah. You are as cute was you looked in the Christmas card Mark and Callie sent me." said Carolyn with a smile.

Mark chuckled. "Hi Mrs. Shepherd. Thank you for coming. Callie and I really appreciate that you are willing to help us out with the babies. Yes, this is my son Noah." Mark returned her hug. "Let's go get your luggage." said Mark motioned toward the luggage carousel.

Noah smiled. "Hi Mrs. Shepherd! The Star Wars' movies you sent me for Christmas were really awesome."

"Well, I am glad that you liked them." said Carolyn. "But you don't have to be so formal sweetheart. You can call me Grams." said Carolyn following Mark and Noah. She stood with them trying to spot her luggage. "So how is Callie doing?" asked Carolyn.

"Oh she is alright...nervous mostly. She was up before daylight making sure everything was perfect. She is scared but I reassured her that we can handle this..." said Mark with a small smile. "But she was doing much better when I left her this morning to come to the airport. Addie is on her way into town as well. Actually she should be here already come to think of it." Mark looked around.

"Well, I will be here to help out for as long as the two of you need me. That is the benefit of being retired. I can dedicate my time to more important pursuits." said Carolyn. "Oh there is my luggage. The five piece set right there." said Carolyn grabbing one of the smaller bags that would be easy for her to carry.

Mark laughed grabbing the bigger pieces and setting them on the floor before they passed by. "I will never understand why women need so many bags. You are only going to be here for a month." said Mark laughing more. Mark grabbed a particularly heavy one and groaned. "What in the world did you pack in here?" asked Mark.

Carolyn said "I like to be prepared. I might be here for longer than a month. It is better to be safe than sorry." Carolyn smiled at him. Carolyn chuckled watching Mark grab her bags for her. "That is all of them. I think that we are ready to go." said Carolyn

Noah grabbed two of the bags. "I can carry these two." said Noah. He laughed at Mark. "You can get the heavy ones dad." The two bags that Noah picked were on rollers. He started walking with Carolyn rolling the bags through the airport.

Mark laughed and carried the two heavier bags as he followed them out of the airport.  
Mark drove home anxiously. He glanced at the time and realized that if he didn't get Carolyn to the house soon he would be late getting to the hospital and Callie would have his head on a platter. Mark was grateful that the traffic wasn't too bad. Mark glanced over in Carolyn's direction. "We are running a little behind. When we get home I am going to have to leave right back out to get to the hospital by now with Callie. I hope you won't mind."

Carolyn said "Oh no I don't mind at all. You two go bring those precious babies home. I am quite sure that I can get settled in on my own. Noah can show me which room I am staying in and I will get lunch started for when the five of you return home from the hospital. Do you need help putting the car seats in the car?"

He smiled. He knew that he was lucky to have Carolyn there to help them. "No, we already have them set up in Callie's car. I will just switch cars when we get home. If I know Cal she is probably at the house waiting on pins and needles for me to get back." Mark pulled up to the house and parked in one of the four garage spaces. He got out of the car and opened the trunk getting Carolyn's bags out. Mark said "I see a rental car...looks liked Addison has made it in."

Callie heard the car pull up and opened the front door. She stepped outside and smiled seeing Mark and Noah carrying Carolyn's bags toward the house. Callie gave a friendly wave and walked out to greet them. "Mrs. Shepherd, thank you so much for coming to help us. I don't know what we would do without the extra help." said Callie.

"It is my pleasure darling. I am just so happy to see that Mark has finally settled down with such a good woman and he is starting a family. Anything I can do to help I am more than willing to. Mark is like a second son to me. And you can just call me Carolyn. There is no need for the Mrs. Shepherd." said Carolyn. "So while I am here whatever you need just let me know and I will do." Carolyn gave her a hug and the two women walked into the house together.

"Oh thank you so much. Well, let me show you to your room. I hope you will like it." said Callie getting ready to head upstairs.

"Oh you two have such a beautiful home. You don't have to worry about showing me to my room. My flight was late and I know that you and Mark need to leave for the hospital soon. Does Noah know what room I am staying in? Because if so he can just show me where it is and I can get settled while you and Mark are gone." said Carolyn.

Callie smiled brightly. "Carolyn, thank you so much. Noah can definitely show you to your room and it shouldn't take Mark and me long to get back from the hospital. Addison is here too. But if you need anything just call us."

"I am sure that I will be fine. The two of you go ahead." said Carolyn with a smile.

Callie smiled and hugged her. "Thank you." Callie went into the living room picking up her purse and the bag she packed for the babies. Callie walked over to Noah and hugged him. "We will be back soon. Show Carolyn her room please."

Noah nodded and said "Okay."

Mark walked downstairs from putting Carolyn's bags in her room. he kissed Callie's cheek. "We need to get going."

"Alright I am ready to go." said Callie. She walked out of the house with Mark and climbed into her car. She tossed Mark the car keys and closed the door putting on her seat belt. Callie took out her cell phone and looked at the time. She frowned seeing that it was already so close to noon that they would be late.

Mark got into the car putting on his seat belt. He looked over seeing her disappointed face as he started up the car. "I know that we are going to be a little late...but whether we get there at noon or at 12:30 the end result will be the same...today Michael, Nicholas and Jade are coming home today." He kissed her cheek as he took off toward Seattle Grace.

Callie smiled softly. "I know that you are right Mark. I just want this day to be perfect." Callie was a little nervous but she took in a deep breath and focused her attention on the scenery whizzing by the window as Mark drove and before she knew it they were pulling into a parking space.

Mark parked and turned off the car. "I think I might have broken a few traffic laws to get here but we are only ten minutes late." said Mark chuckling. "Are you ready?" asked Mark

"You got us here quickly. I tried not to focus on time." said Callie with a wink. Callie got out of the car carrying the bag she packed for the children. She put her purse on her shoulder and headed into the hospital with Mark. The two of them headed up to the floor holding hands. Callie squeezed Mark's hand slightly. Everything happened in a whirlwind once they stepped off of that elevator. They filled out the release paperwork for Michael, Nicholas, and Jade. Afterward Mark and Callie wrestled with the three month old infants to get them dressed in the outfits Callie had chosen for them. Michael and Nicholas were wearing gray and blue striped sweaters and dark denim jeans. Jade was wearing a pink sweater dress and a pink headband with a bow on it. Mark and Callie got the babies situated in their carriers and then they left the hospital.

Mark and Callie arrived back home and Mark parked in the circular drive which put them in front of the door. Mark smiled at the cars that now lined their circular driveway. Mark got out of the car and opened the front door. He unfastened the carriers and lifted Michael and Nicholas out of the car. "Can you handle getting our little lady?" asked Mark.

Callie was already working on Jade's carrier. Callie nodded. "Sure I've got it under control." Callie lifted their daughter out of the car and closed the door with her hip. Callie walked toward the house and the door swung open.

Noah grinned brightly. "They're here!" said Noah

Callie chuckled softly and walked into the house heading for the living room. She grinned seeing Derek, Meredith, Cristina, Addison, and Carolyn all waiting for her in the living room. But she stopped in her tracks seeing her parents. "Mom...dad?" asked Callie shocked. "I thought...I thought you guys couldn't be here."

Carlos Torres' smiled brightened as he watched Callie and Mark walk into the room with his grandchildren. "We would not miss this day for the world but we wanted it to be a surprise." said Carlos walking over and hugging his daughter.

Callie's mother walked over and hugged her as well. "We are so proud of you sweetheart."

Callie smiled looking around at the people assembled in that room. Their eyes were firmly fixed on the three small babies that were there. It didn't take long for everyone to descend on them asking to hold the babies. Callie chuckled softly.

Mark walked over wrapping his arms around Callie standing behind her. "Do you think that we will ever get to hold our babies?" asked Mark laughing. "I don't think your parents or Carolyn will ever put them down."

She chuckled and said "Well, at least we know that they are well loved. The parents have been holding them so long I don't think the god parents have had an opportunity yet. Addison and Derek look like they are ready to pounce on the old people and steal the babies. At least Noah got the chance to hold all three of his new siblings. I don't think I've ever seen him smile so bright."

"You are right about that. Hey come here…I want to give you something." said Mark taking her by the hand and leading her into his office. Mark walked over to his desk and grabbed a small box from the best. "Just a little gift." said Mark.

Callie looked at the box and smiled. "What is this?" She opened the box and lifted out a bracelet that featured the birthstones of their children. She smiled brightly. "Oh Mark…this is amazing." said Callie excitedly. "Thank you." said Callie kissing him softly. "I've got a gift for you too but I don't know if it as cool as this bracelet."

"Oh you got something for me too? What is it?" asked Mark with a smirk.

She laughed and said "Oh cool down. It does not involve me getting naked. I am going to go get it. I will be right back." Callie slipped out of his office and went up to their bedroom. She grabbed his gift and went back into his office. She said "I bought a video camera for you. I thought you could use it to tape all of the special moments…dorky right…?" She handed Mark the box.

Mark opened the box and smiled at her. He had admired this particular model once while they were at the mall together. "This is a great gift, Cal. No one knows me like you do." said Mark setting the camera on his desk. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. He smirked mischievously and asked "What do you mean it doesn't involve you getting naked? You, me, and a camera!"

Callie burst into laughter. "We are not making a sex tape you pervert!" She lightly smacked his arm. "You are bad….so bad." Callie kissed him. "Come on we've got to go back out there and steal our kids back from the parental units." Callie took his hand.

He smiled looking at Callie. "I am going to change your mind about the sex tape. You know how persuasive I can be when I really want something. I convinced you to accept my marriage proposal didn't I?"

Callie laughed softly and said "After George I never thought that I would fall in love again. I thought that there was something wrong with me on a cellular level that I couldn't make a relationship work. And somehow…you changed everything for me Mark. You love me…you've given me a family…and now you are going to make me your wife. I can't help thinking how very lucky I truly am. So how do you feel about being a father to four really great kids."

Mark looked into her eyes. "I loved you because you gave me a chance…you accepted me for who I was and believed that I could be different…but even if I couldn't be different…you'd love me anyway. You deserve all of the happiness in the work Calliope and I will do my best to make sure I always give you the very best. You changed my life for the better. I am so happy to Have Noah, Michael, Nicholas, and Jade…I never thought I'd have one kid let alone…." He leaned in and kissed her softly his hand resting on the small of her back. He opened his office door and walked with her back to the living room.

"You changed my life for the better too Mark." said Callie. They joined the fray and reclaimed their infants from the arms of Carolyn, Carlos, and Callie's mother.


End file.
